Hopes Refuge
by vbollman
Summary: Harry is taken away from Privet Dr, by an unknown wizard, in order to heal.  Imagine his surprise when the owner of the estate is actually someone he knows.  Set after Fifth year, that means spoilers for the first five books.  will contain slash
1. Chapter 1

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

Authors Note. This story is diffidently AU and set after Fifth year. In this story, the fight in the Department of Mysteries took place earlier in the year, and Harry was sent home a few weeks before school ended. I'm also going to be taken great liberties with forest/plant life in Italy. You'll understand more when Harry gets to where he's going. Just remember people... it's Magic... pretty much anything is possible!!

a/n... Sorry about this... at the moment, this chapter is UNBETA'D... as soon as i get it back, i'll repost... luvs ya.

**Chapter One**

Cal McGill walked quickly but calmly down the length of Privet Drive following the faint magical trace that he could feel calling out to him. It wasn't well known to all but one or two that knew him that he was able to feel the distress of magical children if the need for help was great enough, even though he himself had barely enough magic to own a wand. Approaching Number 4 he 'felt' the call become almost over whelming in it's cry for help, so with heavy concentration he pulled of one of the most complicated—for him-- spells that he knew, a Notice-Me-Not spell.

Following the sidewalk to the back of the house, he made a desperate plea to the powers that be, to help him control the fury that flooded his system. From what he could see, there working in the hot afternoon heat, was a child no more then 13, doing yard work with an ease that suggested he had been doing it for years. What really made his blood boil was the fact that the boy was shirtless, his skin not just burnt but broiled a deep angry red, which had already blistered, broke open and blistered again. Shorts many times to large barely hung on hip bones that had no fat on them, and where cinched as tight as they could go with a frazzled piece of rope.

Every once in a while the child would look over to where the sprinkler lay barely five feet away, but made no move towards it. Wondering why, Cal shifted his position slightly and saw a very thin, very prim woman sitting in the shade of the patio enjoying something cool to drink and smirking at the boy.

Moving back to the front door, he thought for a few minutes before smirking to himself. Reading the name plate on the door, he knocked and waited for the woman of the house to answer. Moments later he was admitted into the living room, and drew on another little piece of magic, cast a mild compulsion charm and had her agreeing to letting him hire the boy for the summer. Moments after that he himself made his way to the backyard to convince the child that he meant no harm and to come with him.

The one thing he was not expecting was to come face to face with the one person his boss would not like being on his property.

The Boy Who Lived.

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Harry sweltered under the afternoon sun, and wished for one of two things; his aunt being called away so he could go for the ice cold water being run a few feet away from him, or for someone to come by and take him away from this hell. He didn't want to know what his back looked like at the moment, he could feel the skin stretch and rip open the blisters every time he moved. He really wondered how he managed to stay on his feet, since he could no longer sweat, he didn't have the moisture in his body to do so.

A faint knock on the front door, had one of his wishes answered, and he watched from the corner of his eye as his aunt made her way indoors. Any hope he had at finally getting to the water hose was dashed as with a malicious smirk, Petunia Dursley turned off the water hose and took the handle for the tap inside with her.

As the minutes passed, he eyed the picture of juice on the table, and wondered if he dared to risk it. A few more minutes passed, and with one ear centered on the sound of the door opening he slowly stood from his spot weeding the garden and started to make his stumbling way to the table. Half way there, he groaned and started to think of an excuse to be away from the weeding when the door was opened.

Turning towards the sound of foot steps he was already starting to apologize to his aunt, but abruptly shut his mouth when he saw a strange man standing there instead. Holding a wand. Before he could start to panic the man started to speak.

"You have my Wizards Oath that I mean you no harm Mr. Potter. I only want to talk and perhaps lend you a hand."

Relaxing slightly when he saw and felt the magic of the Oath settle around the two of them, Harry nodded his head, "talk." he managed to croak out around his dry throat.

Cal smiled in relief, and walked the last few steps forward and gently took the teens around the waist and helped him onto the patio being very careful of the burns on his back, and settled him into a chair before pouring a glass of juice and handing it over. "Sip slowly Mr. Potter, otherwise you will make yourself sick."

Taking a slow sips Harry drained the glass, and was poured another. The sugar giving him a slight high that helped clear his mind from the fuzz that seemed to have surrounded it. Draining the second glass, and starting on the third, Harry was finally able to start asking questions. "Who are you and what do you want?" he asked while glancing at the door expecting his aunt to come out at any minute.

"Forgive me Mr. Potter. My name is Cal McGill, and before you ask, you have no need to worry about her coming out any time soon."

"What did you do to her?"

Chuckling softly Cal reassured the young man. "Nothing harmful, I can assure you. She decided that she needed to take a nap, and more then likely won't wake up for a few hours."

Heaving a sigh of relief, Harry reached over and refilled his glass, as well as taking a little of the fruit that sat on the table. "You didn't say what you where doing here Mr. McGill." Harry pointed out.

"No I didn't. You see, when I talked to your aunt, I didn't know it was you I was talking about."

"That makes no sense."

"Alright lets start at the beginning, but first can you answer a question for me?"

"If I can."

"Fair enough. Do you have the ability to see, or sense the magic within a person?"

"If by seeing you mean their aura's then I guess I can. Or at least, I'm starting too."

"Excellent. That's exactly what I mean. I am not a very strong wizard, in point of fact I have barely enough to be allowed to own a wand. I do have a few special gifts though. One of those gifts is the ability to sense a child in need of help, and before you take offense, by child I mean one under the age of 17. I was traveling through the surrounding area, when I felt a call for help, that was strong enough that I knew I had to help as soon as possible. That feeling led me here to you. Do you understand?"

Sitting silently Harry thought about what he was just told, "so you're saying that you had a feeling that someone needed help and it brought you here to me?"

"Correct."

"So what do you mean about talking to my aunt about me, but not realizing who you where talking about?"

"When I first arrived and saw you from over the fence, I thought it was a younger child that I had on my hands. I had no idea that this was your home so you can imagine my surprise when I found you here. Another one of my gifts Mr. Potter is making others believe what I want them to believe or as the case may be what they want to believe. I told your aunt that I wanted you to come and work for me, I let her mind do the rest."

"You let my aunt believe that you wanted me to work for you either as a toy or for hard labour?" Harry asked in astonishment.

"You could say that."

"And what do you really want me to do?'

"I manage an estate that does many different things and we are always in need of more help to run it. You have a choice of what you want to do when you get there. Doing as little or as much work as you want to do, as long as you do at least 10 hours worth of work in a week. We have fruit orchards and stables, animals that need to be taken care of, as well has fields that need to be worked, we can always find something for you to do, even if it's watch the younger children while others go about their duties." Given Harry a tired looking smile, he added softly, "I could not just turn around and leave someone in need that I could very well help."

Harry studied the man sitting in front of them for a few minutes. "You said that you where going to see if you could get me away from here before you knew who I was. What about know that you know who I am?"

"The offer still stands Mr. Potter. I haven't changed my mind."

"No matter what was decided by you and then by my aunt, I have no choice but to remain here. The Blood Wards that protect me here are based on my mothers blood and therefore the only thing that will stand in the way if Voldemort or his Death Eaters attack."

Cal sat back and thought about the problem. He really did not want to leave the young man in front of him here, no matter what the protections surrounding him, as the obviously did not protect him for those who were supposed to care for him. Searching him memory on anything that resembled Blood Wards, he tried to think of another way around this protection. "If my memory serves me correct, you need to be behind these wards for a certain amount of time to recharge them. How long have you been here?"

Harry bowed his head as the memory of his godfather falling through the veil flashed through his mind, unknowingly causing him to go pale. Swallowing back against the lump in his throat, he whispered, "three weeks."

Looking on in concern, but knowing that at the moment there was nothing he could do for the look of pain, horror, and sorrow that flowed off the teen, Cal told him, "then you've been here long enough to recharge the wards."

"And how do you stop Dumbledore and the rest from finding me?"

"By moving you off of this island and to another. The estate I told you about is on the island of Sardinia Italy."

"Italy?"

"Yup."

Falling silent once again, Harry contemplated what to do. It was no secret that he wanted away from this place, but he was concerned about being tracked down. Looking up at Cal, with every instinct telling him to trust the man and leave, he nodded his head. "What do I need to do?"

Every muscle in Cal's body relaxed as he sighed in relief. He wasn't sure what he would do if the teen in front of him had decided to stay. Smiling he answered, "first we need to get all your things. I would suggest not putting on a shirt until we get to the Villa so that we can have you treated by our healer. I'll also have to have Rosa place a translation spell on you so that you can understand everyone. The only thing other then that, that I can think of at the moment is a name for you. You see, we all know who you are, but if we introduce you with a different name, no one will say anything to anyone else."

"So no worries about it getting out where I am?"

"No. we are a very close nit family on the estate, and you will be treated just like everyone else."

"Will I be able to use magic?"

"Yes. We don't have the same laws governing our use of magic that you have here. Our laws state that you have to be 14 to use magic, and even if you were underage, the wards surrounding the property would cancel out the effects of anyone using magic."

Harry heaved a sigh of relief at that bit of good news. 'If anything happens I'll be able to protect myself and anyone else with me.' he thought. "I'll right, when do we leave?"

"As soon as you have your things. I have a portkey that will take us right to the main house."

"I'm going to have to have you unlock the cupboard so I can get my trunk, and then there are a few things in the bedroom that I'll need."

"Shall we then?" Cal asked and ushered Harry inside.

15 minutes later Harry's belongings where tucked away in Cal's pocket, and he had a finger on the small figurine of a golden panther waiting for Cal to activate the portkey that would take him away from England.

With a tap of Cal's wand, Harry felt the hooked feeling in his navel and the two of them disappeared, the wards around that house that should have set of a warning that Harry was being portkeyed out, never once sounding.

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The only thing that stopped Harry from falling to the floor when they landed was Cals quick thinking as he reached over and looped an arm around Harry's waist. When he was steady once again, Cal motioned him to follow and the moved through the Villa to an outbuilding, which he found out real quick was the Estates infirmary. Rapid Italian flowed between Cal and a Witch with long black hair and bright brown eyes. She was slim, and stood about half a foot taller then Harry. When she pulled out a wand, Harry tried to take a few steps back but was stopped by the amusement he saw in Cal's eyes.

"This Harry is Rosa. She is our healer and resident 'Mother'. She's going to cast the translation spell on you so that you can understand everyone."

"How many different languages are spoken here?" Harry asked keeping an eye on that wand.

"about 6 or 7. She won't hurt you, my wizards oath keeps you safe from harm by any one one the estate at this time." Cal said carefully.

Relaxing slightly, Harry nodded his head in agreement, and felt a cool sensation flow down his body, as she flicked her wand at him.

"There now Child. You will be able to understand everyone and everyone will be able to understand you. And just so you know this spell does not wear off, so you never have to worry about not understanding those around you every again. Now I am Rosa, and you are in need of a different name. What would you like us to call you when you are here?"

Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling sadly. "Horatio Black, But you can call me Tio."

"Good then Tio, hop up onto the bed, and we can see what needs to be done."

knowing better then to argue with a healer after being treated by Madam Pomfrey for the past five years, and sat down on the bed she indicated. After five minutes of being tsked and tutted after, Harry dropped his head and therefore didn't see the look of concern pass above his head. He also didn't see Cals wand come up or hear the spell that was spoken that caused him to fall asleep.

As he body slumped forward, Cal caught him and gently laid him on his side, before looking up at Rosa. "How bad is it?"

"This child is in a bad way. From what I could scan, he's malnourished, dehydrated, undersized, and suffering from some serious injuries, most of them recent. The magical residue on him is great, so I would say that he has recently been in a major duel of some kind. There is also something unusual about his blood, but what it is, I'm not sure, only that it's not fatal in anyway." Looking down at the small form sadly she continued. "It's good that you brought him here Cal. He needs time to heal from the physical and emotion trauma that he is suffering."

"If the last letter I received from the Boss is correct, then he saw his godfather killed in front of him, and them went on to face the Dark Lord. He ranted about 'Dumbledore's Golden Boy' being given special treatment and sent home to his family's loving care to be dotted on. How are we going to explain that this same 'Golden Boy' is an abused child that now is hiding in his sanctuary?"

"You don't, I'll do it once he gets he gets here. All that you need to tell him is that you have acquired another abused child that you brought home with you. I will deal with his reaction when he comes home."

"Good, I really don't feel like dealing with his temper once he gets worked up."

"Off you go then and write that letter, let me deal with this child. Oh and Cal, tell him that even before he drops off his bag in the Main House to come see me."

"Yes Rosa." Cal replied with a smile, having learned years ago that you never miss with this healer once she has her mind made up. 'This should be a fun letter to write!' He thought to himself. 'I can see it now.'

_Hey Boss _

_Not much really happening out here at the moment, other then I found another child that needs our protection. Goes by the name Horatio Black..._

_Rosa says the instant you get home to see here, don't bother dropping your bags off first. Not wise to piss of that woman ya know..._

'Yes, this really is going to be a difficult letter to write.'


	2. Chapter 2

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

A/N. Be advised from here on out, most of the time Harry will be called Tio or Horatio. Just to avoid any confusion.

a/n... Sorry about this... at the moment, this chapter is UNBETA'D... as soon as i get it back, i'll repost... luvs ya.

**Chapter Two**

Three days.

Cal was starting to worry. With only the aid of a simple sleeping charm the first day, Horatio Black otherwise known as Harry Potter continued to sleep for three days. Almost four.

The most infuriating thing about the whole waiting game he was playing was the fact that Rosa didn't seem to be concerned, she just flicked her wand over him a few times, smiled and then walked away. And Cal was about ready to scream.

Added to the whole problem, was the fact that the boss was going to arriving within the next five days. 'And won't that just be fun.' he snorted to himself.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, he realized the Rosa would be back any minute to check over the young man once again, and to make sure the magical IV that continuously fed him a nutrient and saline solution, as well as a few other potions that Rosa determined he needed, was still working like it was suppose to.

Right on time Rosa walked through the door and without saying a word to Cal, starting running her diagnostic spells up and down Tio's body. Unlike all the other times she had down this though, Tio flinched at the wash of magic and his eyes started to flutter open.

Finishing her scan Rosa smiled down at the boy, "good afternoon Tio. Did you sleep well."

Tio tried to answer to answer her verbally, but only managed a dry croak, and instead just nodded his head. Reaching over Rosa poured a small glass of water and helped the boy sit up. "Small sips Tio, we don't want you getting sick." she admonished when he reached for the glass.

After finishing the glass of water and handing it back, Tio smiled. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Now do you remember how you got here?"

Clearing his throat slightly, Tio answered her, his voice soft. "I remember Cal coming to my aunt and uncle's and saying he felt my magic calling him, and then portkeying here. And then the translation spell, and my new name, but anything after that is blank."

Nodding her head, Rosa smiled once again, "you fell asleep after that so I don't expect you to remember what happened. You've been asleep for three days, while your body healed and your magic replenished itself."

"Three days?"

"That's right. During that time I've had you on a magical IV so that you didn't get sicker then you already were. I've fed you a few different potions during that time, and managed to correct a few problems you've been having." Rosa explained, after she poured him another glass of water, and watched as he drank that down as well.

"Like what?"

"Well, I've been giving you a combination nutrient and saline potion to keep you hydrated and to give you the calories that you needed. I've also feed you an extremely mild hormone potion to help kick start a growth spurt that will hopefully bring you up to a normal height for your age. The Potions Master that also lives here, managed to finally create a potion to correct eye sight, so I gave you that as well." she finished, holding her breath to see what his reaction would be.

Tio studied the woman standing over him for a few minutes, and wondered just where the anger was, that he should have been feeling, and would have felt if he would have been in school. "Did they work?"

Releasing her breath, Rosa nodded her head, "yes child they did. Otherwise you would have asked for your glasses before now. As for the hormone potion, we'll just have to wait and see. That one will need a little longer to work."

"Then once again, I say thank you. For every thing." Tio said, his glance towards Cal, letting it be know that he was also included in that thanks.

"Your very welcome child. Now as I've just completed your latest scan, I can hand you over to Cal and he can show you to your room. I'm going to need you to follow a calorie high diet for the next few weeks, and you're going to need to drink lots of fluids as well."

Tio hid his surprise at not being kept in the care of the healer longer, and only nodded his agreement. As he swung his legs over the edge of bed, Rosa reached over and took hold of his shoulder. "The one thing that you must remember above all else, no matter what anyone says, is that you are on medical rest for the next two weeks. I catch you doing any work, and I'll have you back in that bed so fast, you won't know what hit you. Do you understand me, Harry James Potter?"

The use of his full name had him staring at her wide eyed, and he tried to swallow around the lump in his throat. "Yes Ma'am." he whispered.

"Good. Now Cal you make sure that everyone knows that he's not allowed to do any work, and if they have a problem with that, they can take it up with me!"

Cal taking his cue from Tio, nodded his head with a "yes ma'am." and with another quick glance at Rosa grabbed hold of the teen. "What ever you do Tio, never piss that woman off. She's one of the best duelers on the Estate."

Glancing over his shoulder at Rosa, Tio gulped and nodded his head. "Thanks for the warning, I'll make sure I keep that in mind."

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Cal spent the rest of the afternoon, showing Tio around the Main House, and letting him slowly adjust to his new surroundings, as well as making sure that there was plenty of fruit juice and water around for him to drink. He knew that the other teens on the Estate had something planned to help Tio as much as possible as he finished recovering, but no one would tell him what it was.

When it finally came time for the evening meal, he escorted Tio to the dining hall, or in this case the small clearing where the meal was served in good weather. "Alright Tio, this is where we all gather for our meals. Not everyone who works here eats with us, as we all do rotations in the outer areas, but whoever is close by does join us. At the moment there are only a few of us, so you won't have to remember everyone at the same time. We do have people from all over the world working here, so you will meet some interesting people."

Tio simply nodded his head as tried to take in everything around him, wondering just how he was going to remember where everything was. He knew that he had only seen a small portion of the estate, and was worried over just what was going to happen later when he was showed the rest. "Cal, I'm not sure I'll ever get around this place on my own." he said tentatively. "I mean, I can't follow you around all the time, I know you have your own things to do."

Cal reached over and ruffled Tio's hair, "don't worry about it. For the first few weeks you'll have a buddy who will show you how things are done. I have someone in mind for a partner for you later, but he's not here at the moment, so I'll have have the others take turns until he does get here. And before you ask it's no trouble, we'll have whoever in here in the main complex guide you, until they need to get back to work. Gives everyone a little holiday." he finished with a wink.

Tio sighed in relief, and followed behind Cal as he walked through a vine covered archway, into a small clearing. Breathing in the heady aroma of multiple flowering plants, Tio looked around in wonder, not really believing what he was seeing. Flowering plants filled the air, and created a cool glade, a glade that seemed to infuse the soul with peace. With a delighted smile, Tio followed Cal further in, ready to meet those he would be working with.

Cal looked at Tio with dancing eyes. He loved the reaction that everyone had when they first entered this glade, and had a feeling that this particular young man would be spending a lot of his healing time within it's charmed environment. Glancing over at the table, he almost groaned in dismay. The handful of teens sitting around the tables where the exact opposite of Tio. Load, boisterous and unruly. Unfortunately three of the five would understand Tio the best, and were, to be perfectly honest, the ones who could be the answer to all their problems.

"Alright you lazy lot, settle down! There's someone I want you to meet." Cal called out gathering every ones attention.

"Lazy!? Just who are you calling lazy old man?" A tall oriental teen shot back, "for your information, 'we' have been busting our balls, with the exception of Sofia as she has none, for the past four days clearing all that storm damage."

"Whatever you say Yeo. Personally I don't believe a word you say!" Cal laughed. Motioning Tio closer he pointed to each teen as he introduced them. "This loudmouth is Yeo. Going from him to the right are Sofia, Stephen, Mikal, and Fernandez but he prefers Dez. Over the rest of the summer I expect you will get to know them well. For now, just relax and enjoy the food." He told Tio. "As for the rest of you, this is Horatio Black. Don't over work him, as Rosa has him on Medical rest."

Dez looked Tio over carefully, "How much MR?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Full Medical Rest Dez. Rosa has stated that Tio is to rest and relax for as long as she says. At the moment that would be for the next two weeks" Cal informed them.

"Damn. Someone did you over good, in order for her to order full MR. No worries though, I'm sure we'll be able to find something 'fun' 'restful' and 'relaxing', to do during that time." Dez said with a slow grin the reminded Tio of the Weasley twins.

Groaning in dismay Tio shook his head as he walked closer to the table. "What in Merlin's name did I ever do, to be surrounded by pranksters and trouble makers?"

"Well Mr. Black, I would say that you where just loved." Dez returned, before reaching over and pulling Tio down beside him at the table.

"Ewwww." Tio moaned, before looking up at Cal with a mournful look. "Help me." he whined.

"Not a chance kid. Besides from what I've heard you know how to hold your own." Cal told him, and then slanted a sly grin at the others. "Like I told you all before, I was at Hogwarts learning all I could while a gang called the Marauder's ran loose." With a wink at the others he turned to Tio, "I also know exactly who they are to you Tio."

The five other youths stilled completely before looking over at Tio. "Cal has been telling us stories about those four. How do you know them?" Sofia asked, Dark blue eyes sparkling with excitement.

Tio grabbed a small slice of Pizza that shimmered into existence on the table, and ate it slowly, savoring the food along with dragging out the silence as the others waited for an answer. When he dished himself a small helping of fruit salad, his own grinned spread across his face. "How much did you know about them?" he asked softly.

Mikal watched the grin spread, and a glance at Cal, showed relief in those eyes. "Not much, Cal's told us a few stories, and their names, along with how they all seemed to have disappeared about 15 years ago. Other then that..." He trailed off, and watched a flash a pain flair to life in those enchanting green eyes. "Tio?" he questioned softly, while the others remained silent.

Taking a deep breath Tio waved away the question, "I'm fine." Taking another deep breath, he motioned Cal away from the others to ask a few questions. "Cal you're sure I can use magic?"

"Yes Harry. I'm sure."

"And they know who I am, but won't say anything?"

"You have my word."

Pulling the one thing he had been allowed to take out of his trunk, Tio cast through his mind for a happy memory. Settling on a memory of winning the Quidditch cup, Tio pointed his wand and with a smile spoke the spell. "Expecto Patronum." and watched with a twinge of pain, as Prongs danced his way through the clearing. Glancing over the others, Tio had to laugh at the looks of awe and disbelief on everyones face. "Let me introduce to you Prongs, A.K.A James Potter, my father."

Stephen was the first to recover. "Your father was Prongs?"

Tio's smile was down right cunning. "Oh yes, you are looking at the Son, Godson and Honorary Nephew, of three of the Marauders."

"Tio, do you know know of a store called Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?" Dez asked, as he started plotting.

At his questions the others all developed the same look, and Cal took a step back, wondering if he should start running to warn the others.

Tio looked up as a wicked grin spread across his face, "you mean Fred and George's new shop? Who do you think gave them the start up costs to open it?"

Cal started to retreat as the others started to sport the same grin. He now knew that young Harry Potter would be in the best of hands. He also knew that everyone would have to step carefully around this group in the weeks (and if Rosa had her way years) to come. His own grin turned slightly wicked as he walked amongst the many pathways. There wasn't a chance in hell that he was going to tell anyone about this new development.

hp

four days later

Tio tossed himself off his bed in an effort to wake himself up from his latest nightmare. Breathing deeply in an effort to calm his racing heart, and slightly panicked breathing, he let his mind go back to the dream. As he calmed, he pulled out the notebook Cal had given him, in order to write down everything so that he could work his way through the nightmares instead of pushing them to the back of his mind and suffering through them every night. He wrote down everything; what he saw, felt, heard, and over all his reaction to them.

Half hour and many tears later, Tio glanced out the window and watched the brilliant sunrise. As the colors faded finally to a pale blue, Tio noticed a dark shadow moving across the grounds. Moments later, the shadow lightened to the form of a person. Yeo to be exact.

Getting himself dressed he slipped silently out the bedroom door. Thankful for the lessons in moving silently he learned from the Dursleys if nothing else, Tio left the house, and followed the same path Yeo took into a small glade and sat down to watch the fluid movements of the other teen.

Yeo knew he was being watched, and even knew who was watching, but continued with his morning exercises. 'Maybe, I can get him to open up a little.' he thought to himself, allowing his body to come back to his first starting position.

"Good morning Tio. You're up early." He called softly.

Tio started slightly at the quiet inquiry. Recovering quickly, Tio returned the greeting. "Good morning. I hope that you don't mind that I followed you here?"

Smiling softly Yeo joined Tio sitting on the grass. "Not at all. I was just surprised that you managed to leave the house without Rosa or Cal following you."

Tio dropped his head slightly and considered how to answer. He knew in his heart that nothing he said would be spread further, he just wasn't sure if his mind would allow him to say anything. Taking a deep breath, and letting it out slowly, Tio turned his gaze on the teen next to him. "One of the first lessons I learned at my relatives was that I was to be silent at all times. No matter what. The next one I learned was never to ask questions."

"The first thing I was taught was to take my punishments like a Man. Never mind that I was only three at the time." Yeo returned in kind, letting Tio know that he wasn't alone.

Green eyes met chocolate brown, and the first barrier was breached, and understanding flowed between the two of them. Wiping the start of tears out of his eyes, Tio nodded towards the clearing. "What was that you were doing?" he asked, going back to neutral ground.

Nodding his head in understanding, Yeo allowed the shift in subjects. "It's called Tai Chi. I found that it extremely relaxing. It's also great to keep my body in shape and for flexibility and movement."

"I feel the same way about flying. There's no greater feeling in the world then when I'm on my broom." Tio said sadly.

Yeo looked at him in concern. "Why so sad?"

"My Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor took over the school, and then with the support of the Ministry she banned me from playing Quidditch again. I'm not sure if that order was rescinded or not."

"She banned you from playing, not flying!"

Tio snorted softly, "Kinda hard to fly when she took my broom away. I'm not sure if I'm going to get it back, and it was the first ever present I remember getting from my Godfather."

Yeo stared at the sky in thought for a moment, before looking back at Tio. "Well there's nothing I can do about your broom, but I know that Dez has one, and that there are a few extra laying around somewhere." He's eyes turned wistful for a moment. "I always wanted to fly."

Tio looked at him in confusion, but Yeo answered the question before he could ask. "I'm a muggle Tio, and there's no one here magically strong enough to take me up, that actually flies on a regular basis."

It was Tio's turn to be thoughtful for a few minutes, before he looked at Yeo with a gleam in his eye. "I'll tell you what. If you're willing to teach my Tai Chi, I'll see what I can do about getting you into the air. Deal."

Yeo blinked at him in surprise before a huge grin split his face. "I'll go you one better. If you manage to get me in the air, and promise to take me flying whenever you get the chance, I'll teach you all the martial arts that I know."

"Deal."

"Well then lets get started. Run back to the house, and change into something comfortable, and we'll start your lessons."

Tio laughed as he pulled out his wand. "Why would I go all the way back there, when I can just transfigure what I'm already wearing?" before proceeding to do just that.

"Huh, forgot about that." Yeo grinned, before getting up and pulling Tio to his feet and to the center of the clearing. "Let's go, we still have an hour before breakfast is served."

hp

As soon as the others found out what Tio and Yeo would be doing after breakfast, they rushed off to gather enough brooms for everyone. Dez came strolling out of one of the smaller villa's that they each shared with a room mate carrying two racing broom cases, and brought them over to Tio.

Carefully setting both down on the ground, he knelled in order to open first one and then the other. The first broom he pulled out almost brought tears to Tio's eyes when he saw the Firebolt. The second made him gasp in awe. The newest broom to hit the market, the Lightening bolt. Made by the same company who made the Firebolt.

"The Firebolt is mine, but I figured you would need a little more power, and Antonio said that if it was ever needed we could use his." he explained as he pulled the Lightening bolt out of it's case and handing it to Tio.

Excepting the broom with shaking hands, Tio could feel the power and the urge to race leap from the broom to his very being. Carefully examining it, before attempting to hand it back, Tio stuttered, "I can't use this."

"And why not?" A new voice asked from behind Tio.

Tio spun around on his heel. One hand holding the broom protectively, while the other unsheathed his wand and pointed it at whoever had startled him. And then nearly dropped both the wand and the broom as he stared at the man in front of him.

Standing a good foot taller then Tio, with short wavy black hair, and ocean green eyes, set in a classically handsome sun kissed face. As the full lips turned up into a smile, Tio had a hard time fighting down a blush, even as a fluttering feeling started low in his stomach. A slight niggle had him thinking that there was something familiar with the nose, and sharp cut cheek bones, but he couldn't place what it was, and pushed it away to figure out later.

Raising his hands to show he meant no harm, the young man gave Tio another slow smile. "My name is Antonio Cardova, but everyone calls me Tony around here unless I'm in trouble. And you most be Horatio Black." At Tio's nod, he continued. "Now would you like to tell me why you can not use that broom."

Tio swallowed around his suddenly dry throat as he tried to piece together a response. "I couldn't use a broom like this without the express permission of the owner." sheathing his wand, he ran loving hands over the handle of the broom. "Something like this is special. I would be afraid something would happen to it."

"Tio look at me." when Tony had his full attention once again he gave another small smile, and was delighted to see that blush reappear. "You have permission to use my broom. I know you will take excellent care of it. Now go and take it for a test run."

Tio didn't need to be told twice, and quickly let go of the broom so that it hovered at his side for a second before he mounted it and shot up into the air. The sensation of having the wind in his face was wonderful, and for the first time in weeks he felt his cares blown away with the wind.

The Lightening Bolt was awe inspiring and moved at his command with barely any direction. 'I could get use to this.' he thought in utter joy. It didn't take long before he felt the brush of the wards, and knew that he would have to return. Dropping down a little lower, he tested some of his simpler moves, before laying himself flat against the broom handle and with a whoop of delight, dropped down into an almost vertical dive, gaining speed as he went.

Those on the ground watched with huge smiles as Tio speed off, and could swear that they could see the troubles blow away. Dez looked over at Tony with a huge grin and patted him on the shoulder, whispering in his ear, "this is the first time since he got here that he's been this happy."

Tony grinned back, before frowning. "Harry Potter? I almost dropped with shock when I saw who it was."

"You, me and everyone else." Dez replied softly. "Is the Boss Man here as well."

"Yes, and he's not going to like this. Not one bit."

There quiet conversation was interrupted by Sofia's panicked scream. "He's falling!"

Tony looked up in alarm, and laughed in relief a moment later, "No he's not Sofy. He's diving." But that thought came to worry the closer Tio came. Dez echoed his worry by the grip he felt on his arm.

"He's coming in too fast! He's not going to be able to pull up in time!"

As they all watched in horror as Tio came closer, Tio let his senses guide him. About five feet from the ground, he pulled back on the handle and felt it lift, as he toes skimmed the earth after completing a perfect Wronski Feint. With another laugh of pure delight, he brought the broom around so that he hovered in front of the group, his grin not fading in the least. "That was totally awesome!" he exclaimed happily.

That happiness faded when he heard his full name screeched from the medical building.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!!!"


	3. Chapter 3

This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. 

A/N... This chapter will deal with the abuse Harry suffered at the hands of his aunt and uncle. None of it's really graphic as I don't list everything 'written' in the file, but it is applied, with some of it mentioned, all the same.

a/n... Sorry about this... at the moment, this chapter is UNBETA'D... as soon as i get it back, i'll repost... luvs ya.

Chapter Three.

Portkeying himself onto the Estate before breakfast, Severus Snape found himself pulled into Rosa's office, handed a cup of strong black coffee, and handed a medical folder. Grumbling slightly under his breath, but not daring to say anything more out loud about meddeling females, he looked up Rosa and raised an eye brow.

"Good morning to you to Rosa. How have you been lately? If I may ask how long do you plan to keep me here as Albus would like me back soon, to help with the search of our dear, missing Golden Boy." he asked in a smooth dark voice, carefully blank of all sarcasm.

Rosa raised one of her own eyebrows in response. "Good morning Child, I trust you had a good journey? As for how I've been? I've been worried sick over Horatio Black, and you'll understand why once your read that file! And to answer your last question, You Will Sit There, until I say otherwise. Do you understand me?" she said her voice hard and cold.

Sitting back in shock at a tone of voice that Rosa rarely used with him, he realized that what ever was bothering her, was extremely important. Taking a sip of his coffee, Severus relaxed back into his chair and opened the file. He knew that playing games while Rosa was in this mood was not a good idea, especially since he had considered her as a mother ever since his own had died many years ago. "Alright Rosa, you have my complete attention for as long as you need, and I'll read the file like you want. But couldn't you have at least allowed me to settle in first?" He couldn't resist the last question.

"I'm sorry Severus, but this has waited long enough as is. It's imperative that we come to an understanding before I allow you to leave this office." Rosa told him in all seriousness, but her voice softened slightly.

"Ff it's that bad, why don't you just tell me what is in here?"

"In all honesty Sev, you need to read it to understand and except, as well as to draw your own conclusions. I've kept back the pictures until after you're done, and I'll go through each one separately with you, if you would like, though they explain themselves real well."

Nodding his head in understanding, Severus started to read through the file that he had been handed. Over the next half hour, the only thing out of his mouth were low growls of complete fury. As he reached the last page and read it through, he flipped it over expecting there to be more. To his confusion Rosa had not given him the full medical file. "Rosa?" he asked with a low growl.

Rosa just sat calmly, and looked at him for a moment. "I need to know what you think so far Severus." she asked calmly.

With a muttered oath, Severus stood and started to pace. "What I think, is that whoever had this child under their care should be dragged out into the street and slowly tortured! What I think is that no matter what, this child needs to be protected, and given the best of care! What I think is that who ever has been teaching this child until now needs to be dragged out with the primary care givers! What I think is that you should get to what ever point you are trying to make. Now!" his voice had started out loud, but had settled for a deadly hiss that promised retribution for everyone who had not seen that there was a 15 year old child that desperately needed help. Another thought entered his mind "He is alive right? You were able to heal him completely?"

Rosa nodded and motioned back to the chair with a silent order for him to sit back down. "The last part of the report I removed for reasons I'm sure you will understand by the time we are done. It deals with his mental health as well as some of his injuries that he had received while he was in school. Horatio is alive and if not well exactly, on his way to being so." With a sigh, she also sat back in her chair and sipped from her own cup of coffee. "To all expectations he should still be in a healing sleep. The amount of damage that I found and healed should have guaranteed that he stayed asleep for a good two weeks. Imagine my surprise that after only three days he woke up. He was so severely dehydrated and starved and over long periods of time for the course of many years, that he honestly should have died years ago. I'm guessing that the reason he didn't was part due to his magic and in part due to his will to survive. Above all else, that boy is a surviver just like you. Over the years his injuries without combining them with malnutrition and dehydration should have killed him. And that's without the injuries that happened while he was at school, where to my knowledge he should have been removed from after his second year, if not his first."

"Do you know what school he's going to? I would love to have a word with his Headmaster and his Professors." Severus growled.

Rosa watched Severus in concern. She knew what he heard next would be hitting him hard. Instead of answering him verbally, she instead handed him the pictures, keeping only one back. "Look at these." she said softly.

Severus took the pictures and examined each one carefully. The evidence in front of him showed him the body of child no more then 12 or 13. "Are you sure he's going to be 16 soon?"

"Oh yes, I'm sure. Though unless you're looking him in the eye you couldn't tell. He'll barely come up to your shoulder, where he should be almost looking you in the eye." Giving Severus a hard look she continued, "do you agree that this child needs your protection? And that you will do everything in your power to treat him like the child he is?"

"What are you holding back from me now?" Severus breathed, even as he nodded his agreement to her questions.

"The fact that Horatio Black is not his real name."

A cold feeling of dread started to form in the pit of his stomach as Severus looked Rosa in the eye and saw a mixture of ice cold fury and concern. "I know this child don't I? He's one of my students?" When she only nodded her head in response, he thought back to when he first received that first letter from Cal. "There was only one student removed from the school for the last part of term."

Rosa nodded and handed him the last piece of damning evidence. A head shot of one Harry Potter, the famous scar laying red and swollen. "Do you understand why I didn't give this to you right away?" She asked her voice hard.

Severus didn't bother answering her, as he allowed his body to fold in upon itself. The rage he had been feeling over the mistreatment of the teen by the parents redirected to himself and the others within Hogwarts. "Rosa, why didn't we see this?" he asked in a shaken voice.

"I don't know about the others, but you I can honestly say, never saw Harry, but only his father James. You made the assumption, based on who his father was, that Harry Potter was going to be a spoiled brat, and never looked any further then that." Rosa told him, her voice still hard.

"Where is he Rosa? I need to see him for myself."

"Do you want to see Harry Potter The Boy Who Lived?" she asked not letting up.

"No, I want to see Harry, just Harry."

"He's outside with the others, he somehow convinced Yeo to teach him Tia Chi this morning." she said softly, as she stood and walked around her desk to help Severus out of his chair, and pulled him into a hug. "I've put him in the bedroom next to yours so that we could keep an eye on him. You have the time at the moment to start making things right with him."

Severus nodded and followed Rosa out the door, pulling himself together as he went. As they exited the house, he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Rosa screech.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!!!"

hp

Tio was quick to dismount the broom and stand to face the approaching storm, not sure exactly what to expect. Focusing on the woman coming towards him, he saw in her eyes the exact same concern that Molly Weasley showed to her own children when they've done something extremely stupid and/or dangerous. Relaxing slightly, he looked beyond her to the other figure coming up fast. Severus Snape.

Eyes going wide in horror, he felt panic start to set in, barely aware that Rosa had stopped dead in her tracks. As a chocking sob threatened to work its way free, Tio started to move backwards away from the one thing that threatened his safety, tripping over his own feet in the process. As Snape came closer he scrambled backwards on his hands and feet trying to put as much distance between them as possible. As another set of hands tried to pull him back up to his feet, he pushed them away, wither physically or with magic he was sure, and made his own way to his feet. "I'm not going back! You can't make me go back to them." he cried, ready to run.

Tony watched as Tio slowly started to have a breakdown as Severus came closer. After Yeo and Stephen had been pushed away magically from helping, and then seeing Tio poised to run, he came up slowly from behind and wrapped his arms around the slight teen, expecting but hoping against the reaction he knew was coming.

Feeling arms lock around his waist, Tio started to panic, and struggled franticly to get away. "NO! Let me go, you can make me go back! LET ME GO! Please just let me go" Tio sobbed.

Pulling Tio tight against his chest, Tony started a gentle croon, hoping that it would work, as well as hoping that the teen would not remember that he could use magic against him like he did to the others. "Sh Tio, you're not going anywhere. You need to calm down, your safe here." he whispered over and over. When that didn't work he switched and started using the name 'Harry' instead. Instead of decreasing the teens attempts to get free, the words only seemed to fuel the struggles instead. Sending a pleading look to Severus, he did the only thing he could. Held on tighter, as he wasn't sure what his uncle would do.

Severus watched in horror as the 'bane' of his existence had one hell of a panic attack. All due to seeing him. Guilt settled in further, as he watched Tony try to calm Harry down with no result, he knew that he would be the only one who could do what was needed. Pulling on his mask and using his best teaching voice, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth. "Seize and desist Mr. Potter. NOW!!"

Knowing it was coming and actually hearing that tone of voice coming from Severus were two different things. Tony himself had only heard that tone once or twice, and the others he doubted had ever heard it before. Unfortunately, it looked like Harry knew that voice very well, as the teen slumped in his arms. Without a thought, he picked up the smaller teen and cradled him against his chest, and waited for Severus to come to them.

Hating himself even more for having had to do that, Severus walked over to where Tony waited. Nodding his head in thanks, he lightly grasped Harry's chin and pushed it up so he could look directly into those green eyes, and using a touch of Legilimeny to get his point across. "You Harry, are not going anywhere."

Ever since Cal had showed up and his aunt and uncles to take him away, Harry knew that it wouldn't last, even though he allowed for a small shred of hope. When he first saw Snape coming towards him, and hope that he had been feeling was squashed. Now with both the words, spoken and unspoken echoing in his mind, he allowed true hope flicker to life if only dimmly. If nothing else, Harry knew that this man had never lied to him. That hope dimmed slightly as another thought came to mind. Unable to voice it out loud, he allowed it to form in the forefront of his mind, knowing that Snape would see it. 'Dumbledore?'

Severus did indeed see the question, and knew before they could move forward that it had to be answered, and did so in the same way that it was asked so the young man before would understand that it was the truth. 'He is very worried about you, and has been since he found you to be missing a few days ago. I will need to tell him that you have been found, and where you are, but I will not allow you to be taken past these wards.'

Harry nodded his head in understanding and allowed that small flicker of hope to take root a little deeper, and glow a little brighter. Resting his head completely against Tony's warm shoulder, he allowed his eyes to close and darkness to over take him.

Severus sighed and stepped away from the two teens. "Take him to my study Tony, and don't allow him to be alone, in fact you stay with him until he wakes once again. I need to go talk to the Headmaster and tell him that Harry has been found, and that I will not allow his removel from the Estate."

Tony only nodded his head and started to move towards the house. Ignoring everyone else around him.

hp

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore sat in his office surrounded by varies members of the Order of the Phoenix, knowing that all that he had to give him was bad news. Five days ago, the Wards around #4 Privet Drive had collapsed, and after checking in with the Dursleys the only information he had been able to gather was the fact that a man had came to the door, and offered to take the boy off their hands for the rest of the summer. The worst part of this, was that they had allowed it! Without getting any contact information from whoever it was that showed up, and no back ground information. Looking over those gathered, he dreaded giving them the information that Harry was missing. Especially after the loss they had all just suffered recently.

Just as he had started to tell Remus Lupin and the Weasleys, Poppy Pomfrey along with all the Professors but the one that already knew what happened, Severus Snape stormed through the door.

"Severus my boy, to what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked, grateful for the interruption.

Severus sneered, but was inwardly glad that he had gotten there before Albus was able to tell the others anything, and handed over the medical folder that Rosa had first given him, as well as handing over a second copy to Poppy Pomfrey. "I know what you have to tell them is important Albus, but I need you to look this over first. It's a matter of life or death." he said with quiet intensity that he normally didn't show in front of the others.

Poppy was already reading the file handed to her, and Albus with a quick look in Severus' eyes started to do the same thing. Severus for his part, sat and watched both of them for their reactions, and was not disappointed.

"HOW CAN PEOPLE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN" Poppy screeched as everyone stared at her. "Severus, did Rosa heal him? Is he going to be okay?" she demanded to know.

Before Severus could answer, Molly broke in. "What's going on?" she asked.

Albus looked around the room, with with a nod of permission from Severus, gave the others an explanation. "Cal McGill found a child, who was being severely abused. He took the child to Severus' Estate to be healed.

"How badly was he abused?" Remus asked, his voice shaking. Everyone in the room knew what kind of Power Cal had, and if he had been called to a child, then things were extremely wrong.

Poppy took over the explanation. "According to this file, this child has more luck then anyone else I know, including Mr. Potter. In all rights he should be dead, many times over." she seethed. "How I would love to get my hands on the adults who cared for this little one."

Severus decided to step in. "He's tiny for someone his age. He looks no more then 12 or 13, but will shortly be 16. He's alive, and awake, despite the odds." Looking over to the Headmaster, he asked. "I have promised him that he could stay on my Estate. When I left him, he had just finished having a panic attack at the very thought of being removed. I left him asleep, using my nephew as a pillow."

"What do you need from us Severus?" Albus asked.

"I need to remain home until the new term starts. I'm hoping by then he will be willing to go back to his school by then." He said carefully.

"You would trust his school with his care once more?" Poppy demanded.

"I would now." Was the growled response, "do I have your agreement that he will be staying with me at my home and for my caring of him?" He asked carefully, not willing to give them any more information until he had the Headmasters promise.

"Of course My Boy, of course, you have my word, along with any help that you may need." Albus agreed quickly, before continuing. "With all this information, you left out a few things. Who is this child Severus?" Albus asked, a slight twinkle starting in his blue eyes at the protectiveness that Severus was showing.

Severus saw the start of the twinkle, and found an evil joy, in destroying it. "He calls himself Horatio Black." he told them, and watched as Remus' eyes went wide with dawning horror. "He's true name, is Harry James Potter." and waited for the uproar.

"WHAT"

"That was pretty much my reaction. Rosa made sure that I would be the very first person she saw, so that I wouldn't do anything to harm him more. She has the pictures still to prove everything. When he saw me, he went into full flight or fight mode. Tony actually had to restrain him before he could do anything foolish, and when we finally got him to stop struggling, I told him that he wasn't going to leaving."

"I'm sorry My Boy, but you will need to bring young Mr. Potter here." Albus said, remorse coloring his voice.

Here Severus glared at the Headmaster even as a sneer twisted his lips. "Sorry to disappoint, but you have already given you word that he would remain with me. Just like I've already given him my word that he would not be leaving. I have yet to a lie to him, and I refuse to start now!" by the time he was finished Severus' voice had once more taken that deadly quality.

"Now Severus..." Albus started.

"No Headmaster. I have an abused child, who to my surprise, refuses to leave my Estate, even after finding out that I will be there. I refuse to break what little trust he has given me."

Before Albus could protest Remus spoke up. "And how will you treat him Severus?"

"Like I treat any other child that comes through my gates in his state. With respect."

Remus nodded his head with a quick glance at Molly gave his permission. "When Sirius died, he left guardianship of Harry to me, or as the case may be to who I deemed suitable. I was going to give it the Weasleys, but it seems that due to the circumstances, I'm believe that it's best going to you."

Severus bowed his head to hide the shock that he couldn't hide. All he needed in truth was the permission to keep Harry Potter on his Estate by his new guardian, who he figured would have been Albus. He never thought that the Mutt was the young Potters magical guardian and had remained so during his incarceration over the year. Nor did he figure that he would have had the brains to have had it transferred to the Wolf. "I'm honored Wolf, but I don't want it, unless it's Mr. Potter making the request. I refuse to decide his fate without asking his opinion." He said softly, knowing everyone would know he spoke the truth.

Remus smiled with satisfaction. It seemed that what he had learned today about Harry rocked Severus to his very core. Even more then it did to everyone else in the room. "Good, because if you had accepted it without consulting Harry, I would have removed Harry from your care faster then you could say his full name assumed or otherwise." Looking up, his grin turned slightly wicked, "you will allow us to visit him yes?" It was not exactly a question but he was not willing to push the man that had his cub at his mercy.

Annoyed with falling for the Wolf's trap, Severus could only sneer. "I'll think about it Wolf, but don't hold your breath."

"That's all I can ask Severus, that's all I can ask."

"If there is nothing else, I need to collect Harry's owl, and then get back to my Estate, hopefully before he wakes up."

Molly looked up at Severus with tears in her eyes, "Just one more thing."

"And that would be?" Severus drawled.

"Take care of him for me. He's been my 7th son ever since his first year!"

"For that you have my promise." Looking over at Poppy he figured he might as well get the rest of Harry's medical file. "Poppy, would it be possible to have Harry's medical file, so Rosa may look it over and complete her own records?" he asked softly.

Poppy looked up, her eyes red and puffy as her mind continued to whirl with all this new information. "Of course Severus, I'll just set them on my desk, pick them up before you leave."

"Thank you."

Giving a short bow to those in the room, Severus made his escape from the Headmasters tower, before his temper could escape him.

hp

Harry slowly followed a voice singing softly in his ear to the land of the living once more, not sure if he really wanted to be there. Along with the singing he could hear voices talking softly nearby, and the familiar hoot of an owl. Opening his eyes slightly, he glanced around the room he was in, to the best of his ability before closing them once more, and allowing himself to drift. A soft chuckle that made his pillow vibrate, brought home the fact that he was curled up in someones lap, and made him snap open his eyes.

Tony looked down into confused brilliant green eyes, and chuckled once more. "Welcome back Little One." He said softly and watched once again as the delightful blush crept across Harry's face.

Opening and closing his mouth a few times, Harry finally found something to say, although softly, "I'm sorry."

Tony cocked his head to the side and gave Harry a puzzled frown. "Why?"

Dropping his eyes once more, Harry sighed "Everything."

Pulling Harry tighter, Tony nuzzled the soft hair on top of Harry's head, "oh my Little One, there's nothing to be sorry for as your reaction to a threat to your safety was well deserved. I'm just trying to figure out how Uncle Sev managed to stop your fight for freedom with that voice of his."

Harry laughed softly and relaxed into the body holding him before answering. "Conditioning. Every first year student figures out in their first week in the school, wither or not they even had potions that week, the exact tone of Professor Snape's voice. If it starts loud, and then goes really soft you know you are in a huge amount of trouble."

"Indeed, and what else did you all figure out during that first week, Mr. Potter." came that dark silky tone.

Harry shuddered lightly, "the darker and silkier the voice the better the chance of detention." came the soft answer, before tilting his head back and whispering so that only Tony could hear him, "Beware the Bat of the dungeons. Those who enter his lair, have little chance of coming back!"

Tony tipped back his head and laughed, with Harry joining in, much to the befuddlement of the adults.

"What was that Mr. Potter? I seemed to have missed it."

Harry tried to hold back his laughter, and managed to suppress it to just a few giggles as he answered. "Nothing Sir, nothing at all."

Severus looked over at Rosa while throwing his hands up into the air. "Do you see what I put up with during the year. He's shows no respect."

Harry froze for a moment as he analyzed that tone of voice. He had never heard that exact tone from Professor Snape before, although he knew it well from his time with the Weasleys. Twisting around in Tony's arms so that he was facing the rest and of the room, and stared at his Professor in shock, meeting those dark eyes that were for the first time that he remembered, laced with amusement. Shaking his head slightly to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Harry finally managed to ask, "who are you and what in Merlin's name have you done with Professor Snape?!"


	4. Just a note

Hey All...

I have received a few reviews asking me if I plan to contiue this story...

The answer is yes. This and all the others are being updated, it's just taking me a little longer then I expected, as I just started a new job.

Please have a little more patience with me. Your reviews have kept me going through the last little while and I can't tell you how much they mean to me.

Luvs ya all.

Vbollman


	5. Chapter 5

A/N... NOT BETA'D. Beta'd version to be posted as soon as I get it back.

Disclaimer. Not mine. no money was made from writting this... Don't sue.

Chapter Four

For the first time since his Godfather fell through the Veil in the Department of Mysteries, the haze that had been covering Harry's mind lifted. Going over the past few weeks in his mind, he couldn't believe that he had been stupid enough to leave the safety of the wards at his aunt and uncles with a complete stranger. By a portkey no less! Letting his wand drop into his hand from it's spot in the arm holster, Harry pushed himself up and away from the young man who had been holding him and set himself in clear view of two different exits, while making sure nothing could attack him from behind.

A slight movement on his left had him dropping down into a defensive postion with his wand pointed directly at the black clad figure, who may or may not be his Potions Professor.

"Mr. Potter, just what exactly do you think you are doing?" Came the dark silky growl that demanded an instant answer.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to prove who you are." Harry said, his voice shaking slightly at he tried to keep his attention on all four people at the same time.

'Now he asks for proof!' Severus sighed to himself, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Very well Mr. Potter, ask your question, just keep in mind that you will be answering questions of your own to my satisfaction at a later date." He growled out softly.

With his wand still being held steady, Harry dragged his free hand through his hair as he thought back over his years at Hogwarts, trying to find something that only the two of them would know or remember, without touching on any sore points between them. A flash of memory from his first year gave him the question that he needed, considering that one of the people involved was dead. "A few days after Christmas in my first year, you and Quirrell were arguing over something after curfew. What did Filch come and tell you about?"

"You'll have to be more specific then that. Quirrell and I argued often that year."

"You had become suspicious that something unseen was watching you outside the library and reached out to see if you could grab it." Harry clarified.

Severus stood quietly for a moment thinking back over that year. "Filch came to us and said that a student was out of bed, he had found a lanern in the restricted section that was still warm." he finally said, and then gave the teen a glare, "I'm going to assume that was you I sensed."

Harry dropped his wand arm and sank to the floor, his body shaking in reaction as well as relief. The other four people in the room remained silent until the teen gathered himself once again. Five minutes later Harry looked up at his professor with dull green eyes. "You've already spoken with the Headmaster?" he asked, ignoring the question posed to him, his voice small and defeated.

Severus knew this was not really a question but nodded his head in answer anyway.

Sighing softly Harry slowly stood up and started for the door. "I'll go and gather my things then." He said, resigned to his fate.

"And just where do you think you are going?" Severus asked his voice once more that dangerous purr.

"We both know that there is no way Professor Dumbledore is going to let me stay here." Harry replied, "after all, the only trully safe place for me is apperantly behind a set of blood wards, even if the people there hate me." He added bitterly.

Severus attempting to walk calmly to where Harry stood, doing his best to bury the rage he was feeling at everyone who should have been taking care of this young man, but judging from the way Harry's body stiffened the closer he got, it wasn't working all that much. "I gave you my word that you would not have to leave, and I intend to keep it. At this time, I have never lied to you, and I don't have any plans to start now."

Harry looked up, his eyes guarded, not really daring to believe that he would be able to stay. "But.."

"But nothing Mr. Potter. Albus has already given his permission, and the Werewolf has agreed. Being your Magical Guardian, Lupin has more say then the Headmaster does, in what happens to you." Using a single finger he raised Harry's chin up from where it had dropped, making sure that their eyes once again locked. "Do you understand me Mr. Potter."

Heaving in a deep breath and releasing it albet shakenly and nodded his head. "My name Sir, is Horatio Black. But if you would like, you may call me Tio."

"Tio it is then. Now was there anything else you needed to say before we discuss what has brought you here?"

Shaking his head slightly, Tio tried not to panic at those words. "No Sir."

"Very well. Go and join Tony back on the sofa and we'll figure out what is going to happen from now on."

Tio nodded his head once more and moved back to the sofa, trying to keep himself from blushing once again when Tony pulled him down to sit next to him, one arm drapped calmly across his shoulders.

Rosa had sat quietly in the corner of the room, and watched everything that happened. She saw the confusion when Tio had woken up in another's arms and her heart once more went out to the boy who hadn't been given any kind of loving touch in his younger years, nor that many later in life. She had watched as confusion turned to shock, followed quickly by self disgust. Tio's reactions were those of one who had to fight for his life in more then one occasion, and the fact that he had used something from so far back as a way to make sure Severus was who he said he was, called for either training or experiance. At this point she expected it was the latter of the two options. When Severus had convinced him to take a seat on the sofa once more, and Tony had pulled him close, insuring that he was not going to run off, she figured it was her turn.

"Horatio Octavius Black!" she stated firmly bringing all attention to her, and found with satisfaction the 'deer in the head lights' look that Tio gave her for the use of a middle name he didn't know he had before then. "Would you like to explain to me what exactly full Medical Rest means to you?"

Tio gave Rosa a panic striken look and took a deep breath. Never had he expected that she would give him a middle name, and then use it without a warning. "Um.. rest and relaxation?"

"Precisely. Rest and Relaxation, nothing taxing in the least. So explain to me why you were up on a broom? Doing something that could in more ways then one, hurt you once again."

"I was relaxing..." Tio attempted to explain.

"No magic. No homework. No doing anything that can and will strain your magical reserves to the point where they will not recover. Do You Understand Me?"

Panic turned to confusion as Tio listen to Rosa, and that confusion slowly turned to horror. "But flying..."

"No buts young man, you are not flying until you are given clearence by me and no one else."

Tio felt tears start to form, and brushed them away angerly. Turning to his Professor, with pleading eyes, he attempted to get through to him. "Professor Snape, please, I haven't been in the air since Umbride banned me from Quidditch. I need to be able to fly."

"NO!" Rosa replied for Severus, her voice firm.

Tio could no longer hold back his tears, and with a small sound of despair shrugged off the arm around his shoulders and practically ran from the room. Tony only allowed himself a disgusted look at the three adults before following after him.

Severus flinched when he heard a door down the corrider slam shut, and sighed in frustration at the reason behind it. Rubbing his temples in an effort to reduce the headache he felt forming he directed his next words to Cal. "I think you better go see if he'll let you in. I highly doubt Tony will get anywhere with him at the moment." A clear dismissal was heard in his soft voice for any that knew what to look for. He didn't look up until he heard the door to the study close as the man left.

Summoning a bottle of Scotch and a glass, he remained silent as he sipped at the fingers worth of liquid he poured. His eyes where emotionless when he did finally look up at Rosa. "You have just destroyed and report you may have built with that young man."

Rosa looked back in disbelief. "No actually I didn't. I gave that young man clear boundries that can not be crossed. He needs someone to take charge of his life." she replied softly.

With a snort of disgust Severus stood and started pacing, as he tried to find some why to make her see the error she made when it came to young Tio and flying. "How many times have you put me on full Medical Rest?" he finally asked.

"To often to count." Was her immediate reply.

"Then why did you still allow me to brew my potions?"

Her brows wrinkled in confusion as she tried to figure out where Severus was leading with his questions, but still she answered. "Brewing allowed your magic to recover faster. It allowed you to focus on only what you wanted to focus on. After spending the day in your lab you always came back recharged, and ready to take on the world once more."

Severus nodded after she answered, he knew exactly what brewing did for him, no matter what the situation. Now to get his true point across. "Before the first task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, I watched that young man like a hawk. He was a sickly green color and nothing anyone said to him helped. He was that way right up until he summoned his broom and mounted it. After he took the wound from the dragon he was against, Madam Pomfrey made the comment that she couldn't believe how much he healed before she had a chance to get to him, and no one could give her a reason why." His voice remained soft through out his explanation, willing Rosa to understand what he was trying to say. When her look remained confused he almost gave into his frustrations, and instead took a deep breath. "Rosa, don't you see? Flying to Harry is the same thing as brewing is to me. It's the only real time he can let everything go. When Umbridge took away his broom this past year, something died inside of him. Even I noticed it. Taking away his chance to fly was probably the cruelest thing you could have done to him."

Rosa took in this new information and then paled drastically. "What have I done?" She whispered into an empty room

hp

Tony followed Tio from the room angry at the so called adults. From what he could see, that short flight that Tio had taken earlier meant the world to him, and from his reaction to being grounded from flying, he deduced that Tio's love for the air meant more then Rosa would ever know. Reaching what he presumed to be Tio's room he knocked and tried to open the door, only to find it locked. "Tio? Please Tio let me in?" he called softly. His answer came when the wards around the door adjusted themselves slightly and he 'felt' as they locked and silenced the room he was trying to reach, just as Cal arrived.

"How is he?" Cal asked.

"Not good. The wards around his room just readjusted themselves to lock and silence his room. We're not going to get into him anytime soon." Tony sighed.

Nodded his head in understanding. "Can you conjure me up a chair? I'll remain here and monitor his mood, until he decides to come out."

"And until then what am I going to do?"

"Track done the others and start thinking of ways to give him some of the things he missed growing up." Cal answered immediatly. "I'm sure the lot of you can think of something to keep him occupied until Rosa takes him off of MR."

Tony stood silently for a moment, already considering a few ideas. "Can you tell me how bad you think in may have been for him?" he asked softly.

Cal sighed, "you know I can't."

"But..."

"But Yeo and Mikal will probably relate to him best." Cal admitted.

hp

Tony smiled sadly as he watched group of five people who sat in one of the many clearings on the Estate. Even though he could hear them joking around, none of them really put any effort into it. They all had similiar backgrounds, some more so then others, and they had all survived with help from those who lived here, and in turn helped others to survive as well.

Many individuals had come and gone over the years, and once healed as much as possible here, 99 of them had been relocated to different places that had been deemed safe for their continued healing. These five, had stayed, and had no intentions of leaving anytime soon.

The only girl of the group was Sofia, but she never let that stop her from putting the rest of them in their place. She had been fighting for her survival in the streets of London, when Severus had found her five years ago, at the tender age of 11, snatching her from the arms of two men, who had caught her stealing in order to pay for the drugs her mother already had her addicted to. The dirty street urchin that had arrived then was nothing like the girl she was now. Standing at 5' 5", with her long strawberry blond hair pulled back in an ever present french braid that reached her waist, she had turned into a talented artist. Many of her water colors adorned the walls of the Manor, and she had recieved commisions from some of the wealther families in the area as well. The money she made was donated to programs to help the homeless. She never forgot her past and could be found talking at different schools during the year, in the hopes of saving another child from what she had lived through.

Tony was pulled back to watching the five by Dez tripping over a log, and his shoulder length hair becoming tangled in the twigs littering the ground, sending the other four laughing. Of them all, 17 year old Dez was the only one who had not been abused in one way or another. He had been born in the Manor, shortly after his mother had arrived by herself, bleeding heavly after being attacked by her boyfriend. To bad she had left him an orphan days later by committing sucide. Tony sighed again, he himself had only been 2 at the time, so both boys grew up together, driving everyone on the Estate batty with their pranks. A small snort of laughter escaped him as he remebered Dez's 17th birthday, extremely glad that his uncle had not been around to be the victim of one of the many pranks at that party, and looking forward to what ever Dez had planned for his own 19th birthday at the end of August.

Another burst of laughter, and Tony watched as Mikal chased Yeo around the clearing. Those two had become friends fast, and had relied on each other for the healing and comfort that they needed. It didn't matter that Yeo was of Asian decent and a muggle or that Mikal was a wizard and as white as they came. Mikal with his sand colored shaggy hair, stood 2 inches taller, but Yeo more then made up for it with his purple and blue spiked hair. Both prefered to were clothing that showed off their lean muscles, and in return most people respected the fact that in a fight these two would come out on top. Those who didn't, learned the hard way that when you messed with one of them, then you messed with them both. A shudder went through Tony's body as he remembered Cal's words about these two relating to Tio more then anyone else. He could still clearly remember when they had both been brought home by Cal, broken, bleeding, and rejected by their families. They arrived within days of each other, and really had not parted in the past four years. Now with both of them 18, Tony highly doubted they would ever be able to seperate from each other.

The one Tony worried about the most at the moment was the last of this group. 21 year old Stephen had come to the Estate 7 years ago, when he lost control of his magic. Unfortunately his loss of control had unleashed not only regular magic, but also a very rare elemental fire magic, causing the destruction of the school he had been attending at that time. The catalyst for his lost control had come in the form of the merciless taunting of his school mates, enraged further when he caught his then girlfriend cheating on him with two different guys. He had walked in on her being double teamed, and loving every minute of it. Now he needed the absulute control that only Severus had been able to teach him, but in a situation like this, he needed to be watched constantly so that his soft spoken exterior didn't turn into a raging inferno.

Shaking himself from the past, Tony approached the group, causing all to fall silent. Meeting Stephen's eyes he smiled slightly, knowing his next words would calm everyone down. "The good news is that he's staying."

They all sighed in relief, the tension immediatly leaving the group. Only Sofia seemed to realize that there was more. "And the bad news Tony?"

Sighing again, Tony shook his head. "Tio locked himself in his room after Rosa informed him he's not allowed to fly until she clears it."

There was a few seconds of silence before the meadow erupted in sound once again.

"What?!"

"She can't do that!"

"But.."

"ENOUGH!" Tony bellowed, "There's more." was said in the silence. "She's given him his restrictions. No magic, no home work, nothing that can cause a drain on his magic. I'm sure that if she could have gotten it away from him, she would have confiscated his wand."

After a few minutes Yeo spoke up, "he's totally defenseless without the use of his magic, isn't he?"

"Unfortunatly yes. I'm going to assume he picked up a few things over the years, but..."

The others nodded in understanding. No matter what he had picked up over the years, there was still a very large gap in Tio's education.

"So what are you going to do about it?" A silky voice asked from behind.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer....This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

**A/N: **Thank you for patience…Just to answer one major question I had asked of me…No I'm not abandoning any of my stories….And I am trying to update each story in order….

Thank you once again to Periculum…Not sure what I would do without your help….

Enjoy.

**Translations: ** All translations courtesy of The Grey Company.

_Hisie – Mist (Elvish)_

_**Chapter Five**_

Tio wasn't sure how long he lay curled up on his bed, allowing his tears to flow. His earlier anger had only lasted long enough to get him out of that room and into his own. The words 'no flying' running through his mind in an endless circle, with the words Umbridge had said in his Head's office last year. 'No flying…Banned from Quidditch…No flying…Banned from Quidditch.' It was having something land on his back followed by needle like claws kneading his flesh that finally pulled him out of danger of sinking too far into these dark thoughts.

Twisting around, his hand connected with soft fur. Grabbing whatever creature had landed on him, Tio managed to pull the small silver and black cat to nestle under his chin. "Wherever did you come from?" he whispered, and receiving only a purr in response, he allowed the sound to soothe both mind and soul as he drifted into sleep.

_~tink~_

The soft sound barely made its way into his conscious mind.

~tink~

Grumbling, he pulled the pillow over his head.

~tink~

{…grrr…grumble…grrr…snarl...}

~tink~

The repetitive sound, soft as it was, quickly became annoying, forcing Tio to wake up completely and search out the sound.

~tink~

Focusing in on where the sound came from, Tio made his way to the window, opening it slowly. Stepping back when a dark form entered his view, Tio had his wand up with the business end pressed firmly under the chin of whoever it was that just entered his room.

"I told you Mik, didn't I? You can't just go into someone's room uninvited, and expect a warm welcome." Yeo laughed, as he entered the room behind his best friend.

"True, but I didn't expect him to be that fast with his wand," Mikal groaned, keeping one eye on Tio, even as he tried to glare at Yeo.

Tio slowly lowered his wand, once he realized who had just invaded his room. "What are you doing here, and why did you use the window?" he asked softly.

"Well Little Bit, when Tony said you locked him and Cal out, we decided that we would give you until lunch to come out on your own, and then we would come and get you," Mikal stated.

"And since knocking on your door is not possible, we had to find an alternative method of entry. These Wizards keep forgetting that doing things Muggle is just different, not wrong." Yeo added.

"You do realize that you just insulted two wizards in the immediate vicinity?" Mikal asked Yeo.

"Yes, but you seem to have forgotten that Tio here was raised in the Muggle world," Yeo replied with a smug smile.

"Um…Still here," Tio had to interrupt, almost feeling that he was dealing with the Weasley Twins. "And why couldn't you knock?"

"Being Muggle and all, I cannot even pretend to know how this shit works," Yeo drawled, clearly ignoring the snort of disbelief from Mikal, "but I'm gonna assume that you heard someone following behind you and calling out for you, and you basically wished that they would shut up and leave you alone." With a quick grin at Tio, Yeo staged whispered, "The wards around your room heard your wish and made it happen."

"What?!"

Mikal had to laugh at Tio's confused look. "Yeo knows about as much as I do about magic, he's constantly reading everything he can find," he explained.

"Ravenclaw," Tio muttered under his breath. "Alright, I can understand that. But would one of you please explain how I managed to lock and silence the door with wards I know I didn't cast, and without a wand?"

Mikal smiled softly, despite the frustration and slight bit of anger he could see in Tio's eyes. "Stephen could explain it much better if you wanted a long drawn-out explanation, but the bare facts of the matter are actually fairly simple. Not only is the Manor warded, but each individual room as well. These wards are still subject to the Boss Man, but only in an extreme emergency, otherwise they only answer to one person; the master of that room. You wanted to be left alone and the Wards, which are now keyed permanently to you, made it happen."

Tio sat down on the bed, automatically petting the soft fur that somehow materialized under his hand. 'I have my own room! Permanently!' he thought, the idea repeating over and over in his mind.

Mikal and Yeo shared a sad look, both knowing why Tio sat there with a stunned look on his face. A place of his own, that would always be there, was even to the two of them a miracle, and they knew that this was only the first step in a long road of healing. Knowing that he needed to distract Tio, Mikal laughed softly, satisfied with himself when green eyes came up to met his own. "It looks like Hisie has already claimed you" he stated softly, nodding at the cat demanding Tio's attention. "She only tolerates us mere mortals, but it looks like you now belong to her."

"Hisie?" Tio questioned.

"It's Elven for Mist." Yeo supplied.

"She's beautiful," Harry replied, scratching behind silver ears lined in black. "What kind is she?"

"We believe that she is the Magical variety of Bengal Cat. She looks just like a kitten, Uncle Sev says she been here since his mother was a child. Rumor has it that she's been here much longer than that."

Tio whistled softly under his breath, moving his fingers under Hisie's chin, causing her to close her eyes in delight, only to open slightly seconds later and look with his own. Tio watched in fascination as her eyes, previously blue, turned to a green that matched his own. "Oh wow. Her eyes changed color."

Yeo and Mikal leaned forward to take a look before grinning at each other. "Should we tell Uncle Sev, or do we wait for him to figure it out?" Mikal asked.

"Oh most definitely wait until he figures it out!" Yeo answered

"Alright, can the two of you please explain 'Boss Man' and 'Uncle Sev' to me?" Scratching his own head he continued. "And what exactly do you want to tell him?"

"Better yet, we'll all explain it over lunch. Come on, time to go."

~~hp~~

Yeo, Mikal and Tio kept laughing every time they looked over at Cal. When they had first exited the room, the look on Cal's face at seeing three people leave when only one person was suppose to be in there was priceless. Tio had looked the older wizard over, then glanced over Yeo and Mikal, muttering over how blind some wizards could be when it came to Muggle methods. That had started the laughing, and now Tio just couldn't stop.

Upon entering the clearing however, and seeing Snape, Rosa and Tony talking to each other quietly, the laughter stopped abruptly. Seeing Tony and Snape standing close together, both with a single eyebrow raised, made Tio take a double take, and he started searching for other physical characteristics that were similar. Shaking his head, he looked at Mikal the question he really wanted answered in his eyes.

"I told you, Little Bit, that we would answer your questions after we eat,." he stated calmly.

"Mikal, please," Tio whispered, desperation coloring his voice.

Sighing softly, Mikal slowly placed an arm around Tio's shoulders. "Yes. Second cousins or something like that, though Tony calls him Uncle. It's actually the reason we all call him Uncle."

"I see."

"No, not really. At the moment, you are seeing in black and white. Let's eat, and then we'll see about convincing you to see in shades of grey," Yeo commented.

"Ya, that would be a good idea, considering that Stephen looks about ready to explode, and that wouldn't be a good idea," Mikal added

"Oh?" Tio questioned.

"Later." Yeo placed an arm around Tio from the other side, the two of them steering the young man away from the adults, and over to where the rest of their group of friends sat eating in the shade.

"Boys?" Rosa called, walking up from behind, and trying to place a hand on Tio's arm.

"Don't touch me!" Tio hissed, his eyes narrowing in anger.

"Tio, you must understand, this is for the…"

"Greater Good," Tio finished, shaking off the restraining hands. "Now where have I heard that one before?" he added, tapping a finger to his chin in thought. "Oh wait, by every adult who figured they could control my life. Well guess what, it's not going to happen this time. The only reason I'm listening to you on this matter is because you are a Healer, but let me assure you Madam, that if I had my way, I would be asking for a second opinion." Taking a step away from Rosa, Tio closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths. "Do not try to say what I can and cannot do. You are not my mother, nor are you my guardian. Please keep your recommendations on a medical basis, and pass them on through the proper channels. Thank you."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Thank you once again to Periculum…I'm really really not sure what I would do without you!

Chapter Six

Tio allowed whoever was tugging on his arm to pull him over to the rest of the teens, his palms sweating and shaking in reaction. He kept expecting to be called on his rudeness, and knew that it would be well deserved. So far Rosa had been nothing but polite to him, he could even admit that she had been kinder then most people had ever treated him, but he had thrown it all back in her face. He knew that she didn't deserve that, but the word combination between what she said and Umbitch still rang in his head. He didn't really react when he was convinced to sit, and didn't notice that everyone in the clearing was watching him in concern.

Rosa stared after the boy with hurt in her eyes, knowing that it was her fault that he felt the way that he did. She could see for herself now exactly what Severus had explained to her in the study earlier; she even knew what she needed to do to fix the problem, but in her heart she also knew that she had done the right thing. It seemed that all she could do was wait and see if her decision not to allow Tio to fly was for the best. She would know within a few days if his magic, like the young man's body, would recover faster than she expected. For now she would allow her decision to stand, at least until she did a scan on Tio's magic. Maybe if she provided him the information needed on exactly how much magic it took to fly and direct a broom the way he did, he would understand why she had made that decision. "I understand what you were saying, Severus, about flying being to him what potions are to you. But you and everyone else need to understand that to fly the way he does, he needs ten times the amount of magical energy that you need to brew even the most complicated of your potions," she murmured. "There is a book in the library that explains exactly that. I'll be in my office if you need me, please remind Tio that I expect him there after the evening meal," she added before walking away, knowing that one of the house elves would deliver a meal to her there.

Severus watched Tio walk away from them, his eyes narrowed in concern when he saw the boy start shaking. He had a pretty good guess as to why Tio was shaking; more than likely it was an inbred reaction for any kind of 'attitude' he would have shown in the 'tender 'care of his relatives. He knew growing up with 'Petunia the Pill' would not have been pleasant, but he never expected the girl he knew back in his own youth to turn into the kind of bitter person that could have treated her own flesh and blood in that manner. He had been given a report on what exactly Cal had found when he went to rescue Harry from that house, and he had become even more enraged. It was a sure thing that he would have to go to the next Order meeting and vent there, because doing so anywhere near the child would do more harm than good.

His thoughts on exactly what he planned to say when he next saw his fellow instructors were derailed when Rosa made her statement. Following her with his eyes as she walked away, he nodded slightly to himself. She had a point, the way Har…no Tio… the way Tio flew on a broom bordered on reckless on the best of days, and despite the calm authority he used while directing it, if he was not recovered sufficiently, he would make a judgment in error and come away with a whole new set of serious injuries. From the corner of his eye, he saw Tony nod in understanding as well.

"I think my being here may well be more of a distraction for him than anything," Severus said softly. When he had Tony's full attention, he continued. "Would you please be kind enough to inform Tio of his appointment with Rosa, and ask him to bring me up a copy of the report in my office when he is done?" When Tony nodded once in compliance he added, his voice just above a whisper. "Let him know that he's not in trouble with me, though I doubt he will believe you at this moment. Get him to relax before he goes to see Rosa, and stay with him if he would like. I would like a chance to explain things to him from Rosa's point of view, and perhaps give him the book she mentioned."

Tony nodded once again. "No promises, Uncle, but I'll do what I can."

"That's all I can ask at this stage: that you do what you can."

Tony joined the other teens around Tio, and simply directed the meal, which had shimmered into place earlier, over to where they were all sitting. Noting that Tio's shaking had not dissipated any, he carefully pulled the younger teen into his arms and tried to settle him once again. Honestly, breaking down like this again today would not do Tio any good at all. "Come on, Little One, no one here blames you for trying to take back control," he whispered in Tio's ear. It took a number of minutes, but finally the shaking started to ease up, and bright green eyes looked up at Tony once again in confusion. Tony chuckled slightly when the confusion turned to horror at what exactly he had said and done, followed by embarrassment complete with that blush that Tony was quickly becoming addicted to.

"How much trouble am I in?" Tio finally asked, conquering his blush.

Stephen answered for Tony. "That depends on what you mean by trouble. If you wanna know about the trouble you're in from Uncle Sev and Rosa for speaking your mind, I would say none. If you wanna know about the trouble you're going to get into from the rest us, if you don't unwrap yourself from around Tony and actually eat, I would say a whole lot."

Tio managed to beat the blush into submission before it managed to show itself, and slid out of Tony's embrace. Looking at the wealth of food spread out in the middle of the rough circle that group had made, Tio knew that he needed to stick with lighter foods as his stomach would not handle the heavier foods available, and started placing fresh fruits, cheese, and some sausage on his plate along with a bread stick. Getting a look of disbelief from Stephen, he quickly added salad to his plate as well.

Conversation was light as everyone concentrated on eating first and talking later, and due to the fact that they were once again eating in the glade where tranquility reigned supreme, Tio found that he had more of an appetite than he first suspected. Much to the relief and pleasure of everyone else, he managed to eat a second helping of most of the food available.

It wasn't until the remaining food vanished and a dessert tray took its place that Tio started looking for answers, and looked to Tony for the first one. "You and Professor Snape are related?"

Popping a chocolate in his mouth, Tony nodded his head. "Distantly. We're third or fourth cousins, though I never cared enough to actually figure out how we were related. The only thing that I did care about was that when my mother died he was the only one left who was able to care for me. I've called him Uncle my whole life."

Tio let this sink in for a few minutes, before looking around the circle. "What is this place? Why are you all here? How did you all get here? Why do you call Professor Snape 'Uncle'? Boss Man? What do you do here? What about the Statue of Secrecy?"

Pulling in a deep breath to continue, he found a hand across his mouth and heard Stephen chuckle. "Easy there, Little Bit, give us a chance to answer before you ask any more. We understand why you need to know this information, but you need to slow down."

Tio gave him a sheepish smile and ducked his head. "I'm sorry, but…"

"But today you figured out that you have a place here among us, and you're desperate for the answers that have been circling in your mind for the past week. Like Stephen said, we do understand," Mikal continued for him.

Nodding his agreement to what the others were trying to tell him, Tio continued to keep his head down, knowing that they would answer his questions in due time. Looking up in surprise when a soft finger touched his cheek, Tio found Sofia kneeling in front of him with a glazed look in her usually bright blue eyes. "Secrets upon secrets lined up with even more secrets, held over with the light of truth. You will find your happiness here, Harry Potter, make no mistake," she whispered before her eyes came into focus once more, and she continued speaking as though nothing had happened. "Uncle Sev made this place into a retreat for those who needed help, and named it Sanctuary. Of course the official name is still Prince Manor, but we all tend to forget that little tidbit of information," she said with a grin. "As for how we came here, well Uncle Sev found Yeo and I, Dez was born here, Stephen was brought in by Rosa, and the rest of us by Cal."

Mikal, Stephen and Tony shared a look at the whispered sentence, and knew that something important had happened. For his part, Tio had to suppress a shudder of fear, and quickly stopped the look of shock from showing in his eyes. It wouldn't be the first time that he had heard a prophecy, and knew that she would not remember a thing. Hopefully the others, if they had heard, would keep it between them, or write it off as reassurance or as nothing cryptic at all. "I think I like the name Sanctuary better than Prince Manor," he said, hoping his voice wouldn't tremble as he spoke.

Dez, seeing the distress Tio was in, decided to help him out. He had also heard what Sofia had said, but decided it would be better to figure it out at another time. "Everyone but Tony and I were brought in for the same reason - and yes, Tio that includes you. In time, I'm sure you will get enough of the details to figure out everything, but that time is not now. However we can make the attempt to answer everything else."

"We'll start with the easy stuff," Stephen added. "We call Severus 'Uncle', because it was with his help that we turned out as we did. Each of us healthy, happy, and in his words 'not absolute dunderheads'." He laughed.

"That and he forbade us to call him father, pops, dad, or any of the other euphemisms for a father figure," Tony laughed. "He complained that he was too damn young to have such old children."

"We also work for him, in between going to school and all. We go through and remove any of the dead fall in the forested areas that need it. Repair damage due to storms, take care of the animals, plant and harvest the fields, fish, and just make a general nuisance of ourselves," Sofy added with a giggle.

"As for the statute of secrecy, no worries there, what they don't know, they can't do anything about. Besides, we all signed a contract to keep the knowledge of magic to ourselves, so it doesn't really matter one way or another," Yeo added.

Knowing that they had given the teen enough to think on tonight, Stephen figured it wise to redirect everyone's attention. "You know, it's such a beautiful evening, why don't we all head down to the pond for a few hours?"

Tony, seeing the distraction for what it was, agreed immediately. "Great idea," he said with a grin, throwing Stephen a grateful look. "We'll go swim for an hour or so, and then perhaps a bonfire when it's fully dark?"

Noises of general agreement were heard all the way around, and the wizards among them quickly transfigured the clothing to what was needed. Tony figured this was perhaps the best way to keep Tio's nerves from acting up at the moment. Something active, his appointment with Rosa, followed by his meeting with Severus, and then a relaxing bonfire. All he knew was that he wasn't going to jinx it by asking what else could go wrong at this time.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N I have had this chapter back from my beta for awhile now, but ran into computer problems so I couldn't post it...my apologies to everyone...

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Warner Bros, Bloomsbury. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Once again many thanks to Periculum for her beta work. Without her I'm sure everyone would be out for my head.

Chapter 7

Tio sat fiddling with the cup of tea he had been handed by Snape moments after he had knocked on the study door. His thoughts still sat on the meeting he had had with Rosa not even a half hour before. Harry did understand what Rosa had been trying to say about how much magic it took for him to fly, he even understood why allowing his magic to recover before he used it again was a good idea, but the thought of no flying at all almost made him sick to the stomach. He had explained this reaction to the Healer and Rosa did say that she understood what exactly flying meant to him, but she was holding firm to her decision not to allow him to fly for at least a week, maybe more, which led Tio to believe that she didn't really understand after all.

"Drinking the tea while it hot is usually the way to go, Tio," a soft voice said.

Startled, Tio looked up into the dark eyes of his professor, and barely managed to hold back a flinch. "Yes Sir, sorry Sir," he mumbled before taking a small sip.

"What did Rosa have to say?"

Tio glanced up through his bangs trying to figure out what exactly the man wanted to hear. "She said that I was overall healthy, but my magic still was pretty low, though it seems to be recovering faster than she expected but not fast enough for me to fly anytime in the next week or two," he replied, keeping it simple.

"You do understand why she said that, correct? Even you have to admit that at times you go from simply death defying acts to completely suicidal while you are on a broom."

"Of course I understand what she was saying, I'm not an idiot!" Tio exclaimed, jumping to his feet and starting to pace, letting his frustration out. "What I want to know, is why we couldn't compromise. No flying above a certain height, or past a certain speed. Hell, I would even be willing to fly with a buddy, but when I mentioned it, she got this look in her eye that reminded me entirely too much of Mrs. Weasley about to give the twins hell," Tio finished, breathing hard, not noticing the moisture in his eyes. "I know it's dangerous, but surely something could be done to make it safer," he pleaded.

Severus suppressed a grimace at the look the teen threw his way and forced himself not to move from his chair to wipe the tears from those pleading eyes. "I'm sorry, Tio, but Rosa's word is law when something like this happens. I'm sure she's going to insist on seeing you every day, so she'll be able to give you a better idea on when exactly you can be up in the air again."

Tio nodded his head in defeated understanding, slightly embarrassed to have broken down in front of the man like this over such a stupid thing as flying. Curling back up in the chair he had been sitting in earlier, he reached for his cup of tea, and took another sip, grimacing slightly when he found it cold, and placing it back on the table. "What do I call you?" he mumbled after a few minutes of silence.

"Excuse me?" Severus asked, not understanding what the teen was asking.

"I mean I can't keep calling you Professor or my whole identity of being Horatio Black will be called into question, and calling you Snape is disrespectful. So what do I call you?"

"You don't seem to have a problem with being disrespectful and calling me Snape while in school," Severus couldn't help but point out.

"You're also not the nicest person going while there either," Tio retorted back softly. "And it would look odd if I didn't call you that in front of the others. At least I refrain from calling you any of the other names the students come up with."

"Indeed Mr. Pot...Black," Severus corrected himself. Couldn't the brat have picked something other than Black as a last name? "I have a feeling that calling me by my other honorific would be a problem." Seeing the confused look, Severus smirked at the boy. "I am a Potions Master. It is my right to have everyone use the title Master, when they don't use Professor."

Tio stared at the man in horror, before shaking his head sharply. "There is no way in hell I'll ever call someone Master!" he stated with a shudder.

"For the same reason I don't want to be called it except under certain circumstances within the Potions Guild." Severus agreed. "You could call me Severus or, if you don't have a problem with it, 'Uncle Sev' as the other brats do," he offered, watching as the teen paled slightly when he mentioned 'Uncle.' "If that is too familiar you may call me Sir or Mr. Snape, as those both are used by others that come to the estate as well. At this point, Tio, I'm not going to push for anything other than what you are used to or are willing to call me," he informed the teen gently.

Tio nodded his head gratefully, and watched as his tea cup disappeared, before a new one took its place. Taking a sip he sighed and let the silence stretch, extremely glad that Sn...Severus (wasn't sure about that one!) was letting him set the pace for this meeting for now. After a few minutes, he took a deep breath and continued with what he needed to say. "I've already apologized to Rosa for today, and I wanted to apologize to you as well. My words and actions earlier were rude, disrespectful and undeserved," Tio stated nervously.

Severus sat his own cup of tea on an end table and relaxed back into his chair, hiding his surprise that the boy was starting the very conversation he had had in mind when he called for this meeting. "Your reaction when you saw me this morning was completely normal for your situation. You saw a threat to you new found safety and tried to run in order to protect it. You magically pushed out at a lesser 'threat' that was attempting to hold you down, although it wasn't that strong of a push, before you went into full panic flight mode. What I would like to know, Har...Horatio, is why you didn't lash out at me magically. I'm very much aware that you could have stopped me and everyone else around you long enough to get away. So why didn't you?" he asked, keeping his voice soft so as not to put Tio on the defensive.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment and mumbled something under his breath, before saying a little louder, "I wasn't exactly thinking clearly at the time, Sir."

"And you are now?"

"Yes, Sir, or at least clearer than before."

"How do you know that you weren't thinking clearly before?"

Harry looked down briefly before meeting those dark eyes once again. "I would never have left my Aunt and Uncle's house with a complete stranger via Portkey if I had been thinking straight."

"Cal could have convinced you to leave with him. He has a talent for doing that."

"Yes, Sir, he told me, and really it wouldn't have taken much to convince me, considering how badly I wanted to leave. The sticking point would have been the Portkey. I'm actually surprised that he got near me with one at all."

Leaning forward and lacing his fingers together under his chin, Severus was the picture of sharp intelligence. "Explain!"

Swallowing heavily, Harry leaned away from his professor slightly. "The headmaster gave Remus a Portkey to take me to Surrey from the hospital wing, but my magic destroyed it as well as the two after it that Professor Dumbledore attempted to make. Madam Pomfrey had to give me a calming draught before they could even get near me with one, let alone get me to take it."

"Why don't you like Portkeys, Tio?"

Shuddering slightly, he tried to explain. "My first experience with one was fine, but everything else after that..." Closing his eyes, Harry tried to calm himself. "Portkeying away from the attack at the Quidditch world cup, being taken to Riddle for his rebirth, bringing Cedric back afterwards, Nagini's attack on Mr. Weasley, being Portkeyed back to Hogwarts after Sirius was killed and..." Here he managed to cut himself off.

"And what, Harry?" Seeing the teen startle from the use of his true name, even as he shook his head in the negative, Severus knew he had made the right choice in using it this once. "I cannot help you if you don't tell me what it is you need help from."

"You'll have to ask the Headmaster," Harry stated, his whole body shrinking into itself in an attempt to protect whatever secret it now held.

Knowing he wouldn't get anymore information from Tio on this subject, Severus changed it to something else, hoping to get back to the the reason behind asking Tio to come talk to him once more. "You started to say something else earlier, instead of the fact that you weren't thinking straight. What was it?"

Tio blinked in confusion for a second before blushing and looked away. "I knew you wouldn't hurt me, Sir. Yell and try and force me to leave, yes, but you wouldn't physically hurt me."

Looking at the young man in stunned disbelief, Severus tried to wrap his mind around that little nugget of information. "You would have been perfectly within your rights to lash out at me, as a direct threat to your physical, mental and emotional well being, but you didn't because you knew I wouldn't hurt you?"

"Yes, Sir."

Stunned disbelief turned calculating as Severus hoped to at least confirm verbally by Harry the abuse he suffered. "What about your aunt and uncle? Did you lash out at them magically?"

The colour drained from Tio's face, leaving his a pasty green, and he swallowed heavily a few times with the hope of keeping his stomach firmly in place. He could only shake his head in response.

Hoping that he wasn't pushing the issue too hard, Severus pointed out the flaw in the teen's logic. "Why not? By your own reasoning, if you knew I was going to 'hurt' you, you would have used magic against me, why wouldn't that hold true for your aunt and uncle as well?"

Tio stood and moved jerkily around the room for a few moments before heading towards the door. Looking over his shoulder just enough to see the man still sitting in his chair, with a look of concern in his eyes, Tio whispered, barely loud enough for Severus to hear, "Lashing out physically was bad enough when they caught me again, I would have never survived if I had used magic," and slipped out the door.

"Well, damn," Severus sighed softly, summoning the bottle of brandy and a glass.

~~oOo~~

Watching from the shadows as Tio paced up and down the balcony outside his room, Hissie perched on his shoulder, Tony couldn't help but notice by the way the younger teen moved, that there was a whole lot of pain and anger wrapped in that little package, and if he wasn't mistaken it was close to blowing. Making a mental note to have Stephen talk to Tio later, he allowed his magic to reach out to Tio and wrap around him in a warm hug, slowly, so as not to startle the younger teen too much. "Tio?" he questioned softly.

Tio stiffened slightly when he felt magic not his own wrap around him, and relaxed again when he 'tasted' it to be friendly. He started to turn towards the source even before he heard his name being called, while scrubbing the beginnings of tears out of his eyes. "Hey, Tony," he whispered.

"Are you alright, Little One?"

"Yeah."

"If you're sure?" Seeing Tio nod his head, Tony dropped the subject for the moment. "Stephen is starting the bonfire if you want to join us. Be warned though, if you decide not to join in, Yeo and Mikal are probably going to come and hunt you down, to drag you to the pit.

Tio laughed softly and allowed some of his earlier tension to drain out of his body. It seemed that Yeo and Mikal had decided that he was their little brother, and had taken it upon themselves to make sure that he didn't miss out on anything. They rather reminded him of the Weasley twins, which if he thought about it could be a scary but wonderful thing.

"Should I be worried?" Tony asked with a smirk.

Blinking in confusion, Tio finally looked up at Tony fully. "I'm sorry?"

"You had this wicked little smile on your face, I was just wondering if I should be worried," Tony explained.

"Maybe. You see, I was just wondering what would happen if I introduced Yeo and Mikal to two of my best friends. You may have heard of them? Fred and George Weasley?"

Groaning in dismay, Tony sank to his knees. "Please don't, I beg of you. Those four together would cause the end of the world!" he pleaded, hands folded just under his chin.

Tio laughed softly, before turning back to watch the sun set with a smirk on his face. "I'll think about it."

Getting to his feet, Tony heaved a sigh. "We are so doomed." Wrapping his arms around Tio from behind, he felt Tio stiffen. "I'm not going to let go so you might as well relax and enjoy the sunset," he whispered in Tio's ear.

"Why?" Tio whispered, honestly confused.

"Two reasons. If I'm correct and I know I am, you haven't been touched in anything but anger really for most of your life. You need to learn that not everyone will hurt you. This is one of the ways that we will all help you. Expect it. Accept it. Enjoy it."

Tio thought about that for a while, as he watched the sun paint the sky in a brilliant array of colours. Ever so slowly, he allowed himself to relax and enjoy the warmth of the other body. As the last of the colour became muted in preparation to fade, he tilted his head back to look up at Tony. "You said there were two reasons."

"I did, didn't I?" Smiling, Tony glanced down to meet the green gaze being sent his way. "The second reason is really, really simple." Dropping his voice to the soft silky tones that all the men in the Prince Family seemed to have, he watched, waiting for the blush he knew was coming and that he would just be able to see to appear. "Holding you like this, just feels right."

He was right. Tio's blush outdid Nature's display a million times to one.

As the last light of the sunset faded from the sky, their gaze was caught by a column of flame shooting up to light up the dark. "Come on, Little One, before the others eat up all the s'mores on us," he exclaimedwith a smile, already walking the younger man towards the pit.

Stepping out of Tony's arms, Tio let a smirk cross his face. "Oh no, we can't have that," he cried in mock horror, "whatever shall we do? Oh I know! Invite the twins over for payback!" he finished with a laugh, the look of horror on Tony's face all he needed before he took off running.

Tony allowed Tio a few seconds head start before starting off after him. "Get back here, you little horror!"

Tio's laughter was all the answer he really needed.

~~oOo~~

Cal watched as the two teens raced each other to the bonfire. Tio's bright laughter held just a hint of wickedness that made him wonder just what it was that he found to tease Tony over. Especially when you considered the gentle teasing/flirting that Tony had been using on Tio all day. With a slight shrug, he turned away from the window. The rest of the household would figure it out sooner or later.

A shadow detaching itself from the gathering dark caught Cal's eye, and he waited for Severus to draw up beside him. "How did your talk with him go?" he asked softly.

"I found fewer answers than I wanted and a million more questions," Severus snorted in disgust. "Nothing is ever simple with that young man."

"At least he's willing to talk to you," Rosa pointed out as she joined them.

"He told me that you said his magic was returning faster than you expected," Severus directed to the Healer.

"Yes, but still not fast enough for Tio, I expect. He wants to fly now!" Rosa said with a shake of her head.

Severus nodded his head, without mentioning the conversation he had had with Tio on the subject. No need to break the young man's trust over such a minor issue. "I have an Order meeting tonight, so you'll both have to watch over him. You know how to summon me if you need my help," he informed them both.

"Don't worry, Severus, I don't think they'll let anything happen to him tonight. Especially with Hissie around," Cal said softly. "And Severus, try not to lose your temper to much with them tonight."

"No promises, Cal, no promises at all."

Cal and Rosa shared a look. It looked like it was going to be a really long night for their Boss.


	9. Chapter 9

Hopes Refuge

Chapter Eight

Severus stormed into Grimmauld Place and cast a lethal glare at the portrait of the screaming Lady Black potent enough to send her hiding behind her curtains in order to get away from it, and nearly flew down the stairs to the kitchen, where he could here Molly loudly proclaiming that the five youngest members in the house needed to leave for the Order meeting, while they just as loudly argued that they needed/wanted to know what was going on.

"Silence!" He hissed, for once not taking any pleasure in the instantaneous quiet that enveloped the kitchen. "The five of you have information that I need." He started, only to be interrupted when Molly tried to deny this. Giving her the same look that silenced the old biddy on the wall, he felt grim satisfaction when it worked on her as well. Turning back to the teens, he pointed at a set of chairs. "Sit, be silent, answer any question asked of you fully, and don't say anything else without permission or you will be dealing with me. Is that understood?" He was rewarded when all five children scrambled for seats, without saying a word, and nodding frantically

The entire kitchen remained silent as Order members arrived and saw the glower on the Potions Masters face, Tonks even managed to make it into the kitchen and into a seat without stumbling, a feat which had never actually happened in any ones memory before. No one wanted the spy's attention to settle on them, as they waited silently for what ever news he had brought them.

Dumbledore's arrival brought sighs of relief, until they realized that even he had lost his usual twinkle. Molly not seeing this very rare sight turned on the headmaster and demanded somewhat shrilly that he have the teens removed, "they're just children, they have no say in an adults discussion." She started, only to be cut off.

"Those children have more experience with this war then you do." Severus started, "or have you failed to see and understand what exactly they have done during their school careers so far? I have already stated that they all have information that I need, and that everyone else needs to hear. They will be staying." He stated forcefully, glaring around the room, to see if anyone else wanted to voice an opinion. Seeing the room settle down, to somewhat calmly hear him out, he started one of the most important Order meetings of the war, and to most peoples surprise it was with personally information.

"Many of you know that I have access to many of my own potions ingredients, and many of them are rare and extremely expensive. I have heard many of you ask, at what cost do I deliver these for the Order use. What only select people have known is that many of them are grown on my Estate, in 'pockets' of their own environments, managed by magic.

I employ many people, looking for a new start due to abusive relationships in their past. My staff and myself do what we can to heal these individuals physically and mentally the best we can, and then find a place where they can continue to heal as well as to flourish and reach their full potential. One wizard on my staff has a very rare and invaluable talent. He can sense the abuse in children, and if it's severe enough in adults as well. Usually if there was not immediate danger, he would do what he could to encourage the victim to take the first step in leaving, but that is not always the case." Here Severus stopped for a few minutes, extremely uncomfortable with what he was telling everyone on a personal level, but knowing that the information was needed for people to understand what had happened. Taking a calming breath, he continued.

"Earlier this summer, Cal had a extreme sense that something was desperately wrong, and went to find the source. What he found, had him making immediate plans to remove the child involved, despite knowing that it would cause a major backlash in many ways. My medic has informed me, and Madam Pomfrey has backed her up fully in this, that if the child had stayed where he was, he wouldn't have lasted out the week." Glancing around the room, he found shocked horror on every adults face, even the ones that had been told earlier what had happened, and started to mentally prepare himself to actually utter the words he knew would bring most of them to their knees. Much to his surprise, he only found looks of determination on the teens when he finally looked their way.

"He found Harry didn't he Professor?" Ron stated, not flinching when the Order members loudly demanded that he take back that claim.

"How long have you known Mr. Weasley." Severus stated, causing silence to fall in the kitchen once more.

"Since his first year." The twins answered, the other teens confirming this with nods of agreement.

"AND YOU NEVER TOLD US" Molly screeched.

"WE DID!" The twins and Ron yelled back. "You just never listened to what we had to say." Ron continued, "after all we're just children, and have no understanding of adult problems." He added bitterly, mimicking his mother in near perfect imitation of her earlier statement.

Before an argument could start, Hermione gave the Potions Master a sad look. "What do you want to know Professor, we'll answer any question to the best of our ability."

This started a long session, where the adults in charge of looking after the 'children' realized exactly how badly they failed. Each new fact, shaming them all even further.

...The cupboard under the stairs.

...Starvation

...Bars and looks on the windows and doors.

...The unexplained scars

...Poorly fitted clothes

Many more facts came to light that night, and Severus took it all in, his dark eyes glittering with rage, as the rest of the adults hung their heads, and in most cases let the tears run down their faces.

When the teens seemed to have finally talked themselves out, Severus bowed his head in thanks, and dismissed them they could write and he would make sure that Harry would get anything they wanted to send.

"Can we visit?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Not at this time." Severus replied, in what could only be said was a gentle tone.

Nodding in understanding once again, the five of them left the room, none of them stupid enough to argue their dismissal, clearly seeing the storm brewing in their Professors very stance.

The last words they heard, before the silencing charms went up, had them all snapping their heads back towards the door in surprise.

"What the fuck where you thinking old man!"

~~oOo~~

In the Black library, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and the twins sat drained of energy after being grilled about everything the knew about Harry's home life by the Order, but most especially by Snape. Finally Ginny sighed, and voiced what they where all thinking. "Finally someone decided to listen."

"It's about time." Ron murmured.

The twins nodded their heads in unison, "what do we do now." George asked, for once not using their twin speak.

"The same thing we've always done, let him know we're here for him, and continue to act as a buffer between him and the other students." Hermione said softly. "We need to write him and let him know what just happened, because you know he'll find out from somewhere, and it will hurt him even more if he doesn't find out from us.

"He's not going..."

"...to like this." the twins answered.

"He'll just have to deal with it won't he." Ron told them sharply. "I wasn't going to say no to Snape when he was in that kind of mood. We also need to tell Neville, Seamus, and Dean that Harry's safe."

"Luna as well." Ginny added in.

Nodding their heads in agreement, the five of them got to work, informing people who needed to know that Harry was in a safe place, and in the case of Luna and Neville, exactly where he was and who he was staying with.

Hermione got the hard job. She had to write to her best friend.

And hope for the best.

~~oOo~

Severus barely lifted his head a cup of tea was placed in front of him. It had taken a couple of hours, but he no longer deemed it worth his time to kill the Dursleys. Torture maybe, but not kill. He also knew that going after those pieces of scum, would hurt the teen in his care, more then anyone would like to admit. Conditioning on both their part and the part of the Headmaster.

Glancing up into the eyes of Lupin, he had to suppress a shiver, when he saw yellow glinting in the usually brown eyes, and did a mental calculation on how close the full moon was and cringed slightly in his seat.

"Don't worry Severus. I took a double dose of extra strength calming potion before coming to this meeting." Remus told him with a sharper then normal smile. "How is Harry doing?" he asked softly, once the spy had a chance to relax slightly.

"Better then I expected Wolf, but he's more then likely hiding he's true emotions. I think the others on the estate will get him to reveal them sooner or later." Thinking back on the laughter he heard just before leaving to come to the meeting, Severus decided to throw the Wolf a bone. "He was laughing and teasing my nephew when I left, racing him to where the others had started a bonfire."

"So he's happy?" Remus asked hopefully.

"Content, would most likely be closer to the truth. I don't think he actually knows how to be happy, unless he's flying, and Rosa has banned him from doing that until his magic levels are back to normal."

"Either way, I'm happy to hear that." Remus said with a smile. Pulling a letter out of his pocket, Remus sat in on the table in front of the Potions Master. "Could you please give that to him? I don't want him to start thinking I've abandoned him." Again, he added mentally, and could tell Severus had had the same thought.

"I'll make sure he gets it in the morning." Pausing slightly, Severus looked up at the Wolf. "Have you seen his owl lately?"

"No I haven't, but if I know Hedwig, she'll turn up exactly when needed the most." Remus reassured him, with a gentle smile, before leaving Severus to his thoughts.

'I sure hope so.' Severus thought to himself. 'I don't want to see what losing her will do to Harry at the moment.'

~~oOo~~

Tio sat silently staring at the hypnotic effect off the dying bonfire, having waved off the others half an hour earlier, and allowed the dying embers to lull him into a calming daze. Even after being on the Estate for a just over a week, he was still having troubles believing that he was never going back to the Dursleys, and kept expecting to wake up from this dream.

Thinking back over the conversation with Snape earlier that day, and all of his interactions with the man since coming here, he was couldn't believe the changes from when they where at school. Considering it for a few minutes longer, he figured he would just go with the flow, and think of 'Uncle Sev' and 'Professor Snape' as two different people. After all it made since in an odd way that Snape would be different at home then he would be at school.

Getting up from his sprawled position against a cushioned log, he stopped for a moment to consider the almost dead fire, before waving his hand slightly over top of it and extinguished the last of the embers before heading off to bed, figuring if no one saw him, no one would tell Rosa that he had used wandless magic.

Feeling something rub up against his ankle, Tio scooped up Hissie and made his way up to the house, pausing only a moment, to gaze at where he knew Tony stayed, before catching himself, and slipping through the door of the Manor, and on silent feet to his room. Once there he barely had enough time to change, before Hissie purr did it's job, and eased him into a deep sleep.

~~oOo~~

Stephen from the shadowed porch of his villa kept watch over their newest member, and had to stop himself from coming to his feet in surprise when he saw the act of wandless magic. Seeing the light in the teens room flicker out, he made his way to his own bed, and contemplated this little puzzle. It seemed their was a whole lot to Harry Potter that no one actually knew, and if he was correct, most never would.

Starting his meditation, Stephen made a mental note to teach Tio a few of the basics, and allowed himself to drift of to sleep, part of his mind analyzing the facts, the rest of his mind more then ready to shut down. With a final sigh, he gave in to sleep. He had all the time in the world to figure this one out.


End file.
